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High-dose vitamin D3 improves levels when Crohn's in remission

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ORLANDO — In a pilot study, high doses of vitamin D improved 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and reduced rate for relapse in patients with Crohn’s disease in remission more often than low doses, according to a poster presented at the Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease annual conference.

Researchers randomly assigned 34 patients to either a high dosage (10,000 IU, n = 18) or low dosage (1,000 IU, n = 16) of vitamin D3 daily for 1 year. Each patient had a prior diagnosis of CD in remission for at least 28 days and had a Harvey-Bradshaw index score of less than four.

“In patients with Crohn’s Disease in remission, we hypothesized higher doses of vitamin D would more effectively improve 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and would be tolerated well without side effects of hypercalcemia,” Neeraj Narula, MD, CCFP, of the department of medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, and colleagues wrote.

Overall, eight patients in the low-dose group and 12 in the high-dose group completed the study and were included in the final analysis. Of these, 37.5% in the low-dose group experienced relapse compared with 0% in the high-dose group (P = .0491). The rate of relapse on an intention-to-treat basis was greater in the low-dose group (68.8%) compared with the high-dose group (33.3%, P = .0844).

After 1 year, C-reactive protein levels of patients in both groups were similar (P = .3). Also, improvement in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale score were similar in both groups of patients (P = .33).

No serious adverse events were experienced by either group of patients. Compliance was 50% to 65% for two patients in the high-dose arm and for one patient in the low-dose arm, according to the abstract. All other patients had approximately 80% or greater compliance.

“Rates of clinical relapse were similar between both groups, but on a per-protocol basis, significantly lower rates of clinical relapse were observed in the high-dose vitamin D3 cohort. Larger studies using high-dose vitamin D3 for treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases are warranted,” the researchers concluded. – by Melinda Stevens

Reference: Narula N, et al. Abstract P-064. Presented at Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Dec. 10-12, 2015; Orlando, Fla.

Disclosures: Healio Gastroenterology was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.

Editor's Note: This article was updated on January 19 to correct the researcher's name.