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Vitamin D3 supplementation ineffective for diarrheal disease
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Vitamin D3 supplementation did not reduce time to first illness or risk for recurrent diarrheal disease in infants, according to recent study findings published in Pediatrics.
“Globally 2.5 billion diarrheal illnesses occur in children <5 years of age, resulting in 1.8 million deaths annually,” according to background information in the study. “Although reductions in incidence have been made in resource-limited settings, the disease burden associated with recurrent enteric illnesses remains an immense public health problem, resulting in malnutrition, disability, and mortality among children.”
The double blind, placebo-controlled trial included 3,046 high-risk infants aged 1 to 11 months in Kabul, Afghanistan, who were assigned to six quarterly doses of vitamin D3 or placebo.
In the placebo group, the incidence of diarrheal illnesses was 3.43 per child year (95% CI, 3.28-3.59), and 3.59 per child year (95% CI, 3.44-3.76) for the vitamin D3group, researchers found.
Supplementation with vitamin D3 had no effect on the risk for recurrent diarrheal disease in intention-to-treat (HR=1.05; 95% CI, 0.98-1.17) or per protocol (HR=1.05; 95% CI, 0.98-1.12) analyses.
“Quarterly supplementation with 100,000 IU of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) was found to have no benefit on prevention of diarrheal illness among children aged 1 to 29 months in Kabul, Afghanistan,” researchers wrote. “Similar supplementation to populations comparable to the one studied here is not recommended. The methods and results of this trial should be used to guide further research to identify appropriate serological level and immune mechanisms associated with the effects of vitamin D on diarrheal diseases, and if beneficial, to determine optimal supplementation regimes for public health interventions.”
Disclosure: See study for a full list of disclosures.
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