Vitamin D levels in teens restored with 150,000 IU monthly for 3 months (mean 33 ng)
Three monthly doses of 150,000 IU of oral cholecalciferol correct vitamin D deficiency in adolescents: a pragmatic study
Int J Clin Pract. 2021 Oct 28;e14989. doi: 10.1111/ijcp.14989
Magdalini Patseadou 1 2, Dagmar M Haller 1 3
Objectives: To assess the efficacy of an oral high-dose cholecalciferol regimen in correcting vitamin D deficiency (VDD) in adolescents and to explore potential predictive factors on the response to treatment.
Methods: This is a retrospective chart review conducted in the Adolescent Outpatient Clinic, Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland. One hundred-three otherwise healthy vitamin D deficient [serum 25hydroxyvitamin D, 25(OH)D, level < 50 nmol/L] adolescents (mean age 16.6) attending the clinic between 1st January 2016 and 31st December 2018 received 150,000 IU of oral cholecalciferol every month for 3 months (cumulative dose of 450,000 IU). We measured the change in serum 25(OH)D levels pre- and post-treatment and the achievement of serum 25(OH)D level post-treatment ≥ 75 nmol/L.
Results: The mean serum 25(OH)D level increased by 320 %, from 26 nmol/L at baseline to 83 nmol/L at the end of the study (p < 0.001). The rise was significantly higher for patients initially tested in the winter/spring (mean 65 nmol/L) compared to those initially tested in the summer/autumn (mean 48 nmol/L) (p < 0.003). No clear relationship was found between the response to treatment and the vitamin D status at baseline. The effect of age, gender, origin and body mass index was not statistically significant.
Conclusions: The present intermittent high-dose regimen is effective in treating VDD in healthy adolescents without significant variations in response between different subgroups.