TY - JOUR
TI - Vitamin D levels in Greek patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
AU - Athanassiou, Lambros
AU - Kostoglou-Athanassiou, Ifigenia
AU - Tsakiridis,
AU - Pavlos
AU - Devetzi, Eirini
AU - Mavroudi, Maria
AU - Fytas, Pantelis and
AU - Koutsilieris, Michael
AU - Athanassiou, Panagiotis
JO - Lupus Science and Medicine
PY - 2022
VL - 31
TODO - 1
SP - 125-132
PB - SAGE Publications Ltd
SN - null
TODO - 10.1177/09612033211066462
TODO - Vitamin D; systemic lupus erythematosus; autoimmunity; complement; renal
involvement
TODO - Objectives Vitamin D deficiency has been observed in autoimmune
rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. The aim was to study
vitamin D in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and its
relationship with disease activity. Methods In a cohort of 45 patients
with SLE, 41 females and 4 males, aged 47.07 +/- 2.17 years (mean +/-
SEM), and range = 21-79 years, 25(OH)D-3 levels were determined by
electrochemiluminescence. C-3 and C-4 levels were also analyzed. SLE
disease activity was estimated by SLEDAI-2K. Observations were also
performed in a control group matched for age and sex. Results In this
cohort of SLE patients, 25(OH)D-3 levels were 40.36 +/- 2.41 nmol/L
(mean +/- SEM) as opposed to 60.98 +/- 4.28 nmol/L in the control group
(p < 0.001, Student's t test). Vitamin D levels were related to C-3 (p <
0.001, linear regression analysis), correlation coefficient 0.106, r(2)
= 0.011, and C-4 (p < 0.001); correlation coefficient 0.316 and r(2) =
0.100; and inversely related to disease activity (p < 0.001),
correlation coefficient -0.572 and r(2) = 0.327. 25(OH)D-3 levels were
17.73 +/- 1.20 nmol/L and 12.24 +/- 0.93 nmol/L, in the groups without
and with renal involvement, respectively (p = 0.001, Student's t test).
Conclusions Vitamin D levels are low in SLE patients and are inversely
related to disease activity. Routine screening for vitamin D levels
should be performed in SLE patients.
ER -