• Kan-Hung Cheng, Ming-Chin Tsai, and Lin-Shien Fu.
• Department of Pediatrics, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC.
• J Chin Med Assoc. 2022 May 1; 85 (5): 627-632.

BackgroundThere is growing evidence linking low levels of vitamin D3 to an increased risk of many autoimmune diseases. Compared to the general population, hypovitaminosis D is more prevalent among children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which can be associated with sun exposure avoidance, long-term corticosteroid treatment, and renal disease. Therefore, we launched this study to assess the correlation between 25 (OH) D3 (VitD3) levels and the disease activity of children with SLE (cSLE) in Taiwan.MethodsFrom September to December 2018, we recruited 31 cSLE patients from the Pediatric Out-patient Department of Taichung Veterans General Hospital. Their basic data, including SLE disease index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) score, laboratory values, prescribed drugs and VitD3 levels were collected and analyzed statistically.ResultsThe mean serum VitD3 concentration was 19.7 ± 7.9 ng/mL and SLEDAI-2K 6.2 ± 5.0. Those patients (N = 16) with an SLEDAI-2K≦4 had higher VitD3 levels when compared to those (N = 15) with an SLEDAI-2K>4 (22.9 ± 7.7 vs 16.3 ± 6.7 points, p = 0.020). Five patients not taking systemic corticosteroids (SCS) had significantly higher VitD3 levels and lower SLEDAI-2K than those who took SCS (N = 26). Additionally, we found VitD3 levels to be negatively correlated to SLEDAI-2K (rs = -0.55, p = 0.001) and daily SCS dosages (rs = -0.49, p = 0.005).ConclusionThis study shows that VitD3 deficiency is common in patients with cSLE. It was also noted that serum VitD3 levels negatively correlate to SLEDAI-2K, which can be partially explained by less usage of SCS.Copyright © 2022, the Chinese Medical Association.

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