Inflammatory Bowel Disease – proposed Vitamin D protocol
Managing vitamin D deficiency in inflammatory bowel disease.
Frontline Gastroenterol. 2019 Oct;10(4):394-400. doi: 10.1136/flgastro-2018-101055. Epub 2019 Jan 7.

Nielsen OH1 ohn@dadlnet.dk, Hansen TI1, Gubatan JM2, Jensen KB3,4, Rejnmark L5.
1 Department of Gastroenterology, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Herlev, Denmark.
2 Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, California, USA.
3 Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
4 Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
5 Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
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Management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, is generally cumbersome for patients and is a massive health-economic burden. In recent years, the immunomodulating effects of vitamin D have gained a huge interest in its possible pathogenic influence on the pathophysiology of IBD. Vitamin D deficiency is frequent among patients with IBD. Several clinical studies have pointed to a critical role for vitamin D in ameliorating disease outcomes. Although causation versus correlation unfortunately remains an overwhelming issue in the illusive chicken versus egg debate regarding vitamin D and IBD, here we summarise the latest knowledge of the immunological effects of vitamin D in IBD and recommend from available evidence that physicians regularly monitor serum 25(OH)D levels in patients with IBD. Moreover, we propose an algorithm for optimising vitamin D status in patients with IBD in clinical practice. Awaiting well-powered controlled clinical trials, we consider vitamin D supplementation to be an affordable and widely accessible therapeutic strategy to ameliorate IBD clinical outcomes.