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Vitamin D reduces COPD exacerbations

Oral vitamin D supplementation “safely and substantially” lowered the moderate/severe COPD exacerbation rates in patients with baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of less than 25 nmol/L, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis recently published in Thorax.

“Consistent associations between circulating concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of COPD exacerbation have not been demonstrated,” David A. Jolliffe, PhD, of The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London and colleagues wrote.

Researchers analyzed three trials containing 472 patients aged 40 to 86 years. Of those, 97% were of white European ethnicity and 66.7% were men. Patients received vitamin D doses of either 100,000 IU every month, 120,000 IU every 2 months, or 1,200 IU every day for 6 months.

Jolliffe and colleagues found vitamin D provided a protective effect in patients with baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of less than 25 nmol/L (adjusted incidence rate ratio = 0.55; 95% CI, 0.36-0.84) but not in patients with baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of more than 25 nmol/L (adjusted incidence rate ratio = 1.04; 95% CI, 0.85-1.27). Vitamin D had no impact on the overall rate of moderate/severe COPD exacerbations.

 

Oral vitamin D supplementation “safely and substantially” lowered the moderate/severe COPD exacerbation rates in patients with baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of less than 25 nmol/L, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis recently published in Thorax.

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“Our findings support a strategy of routinely testing vitamin D status in patients with COPD who experience exacerbations and offering supplementation to those with circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of less than 25 nmol/L,” Jolliffe and colleagues concluded. – by Janel Miller

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.