Role of vitamin D supplementation in improving disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: An exploratory study
International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases, Article first published online: 20 OCT 2015, DOI: 10.1111/1756-185X.12770
S. Chandrashekara* and Anand Patted
6 weeks of 60,000 IU/week, then 3 months of 60,000 IU/month
| Before | After | |
| DAS28-CRP | 3.7 | 3.1 |
| Vitamin D | 10 ng | 57 ng |
Rheumatoid Arthritis category starts with
Highlights of RA studies in VitaminDWiki
RA worse if low Vitamin D
- Rheumatoid Arthritis score extrapolates to zero at 51 ng of Vitamin D (India) – June 2024
- Rheumatoid Arthritis is more severe if low vitamin D – July 2023
- Rheumatoid arthritis pain was 5.8 X more likely if low vitamin D – Aug 2017
- Adaptive and innate immune system, vitamin D genes, and Rheumatoid Arthritis – June 2019
- Rheumatoid Arthritis strongly associated with low vitamin D – meta-analysis April 2016
- Rheumatoid Arthritis associated with lower vitamin D and higher latitude – meta-analysis Jan 2016
- Adaptive and innate immune system, vitamin D genes, and Rheumatoid Arthritis – June 2019
- Resveratrol Role in Autoimmune Disease-A Mini-Review. – Dec 2016
- Immunological effects of vitamin D and their relations to autoimmunity – March 2019
- Arthritis runs in Pakistani families (Vitamin D Receptor) – March 2019
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis 2.2 X more likely if poor Vitamin D Receptor – Aug 2018
- Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis 8 X more likely if poor Vitamin D receptor – Dec 2017
- Inflammation and immune responses to Vitamin D (perhaps need to measure active vitamin D) – July 2017
- Vitamin D in rheumatoid arthritis-towards clinical application – April 2016
- Rheumatoid arthritis is 40 percent more likely if vitamin D Receptor problem – 2 meta-analyses 2015
- Rheumatoid arthritis, genes and vitamin D – May 2013
RA Treated by Vitamin D
- Several rheumatic diseases treated by high-dose vitamin D, but made worse if Calcium was added – April 2022
- Rheumatic Diseases often treated by Vitamin D, may need 40-60 ng – Oct 2021
- Rheumatoid Arthritis pain reduced by monthly 100,000 IU of Vitamin D – Oct 2018
- Rheumatoid arthritis reduced by 440,000 IU of Vitamin D over 4 months – Oct 2015
- Connective tissue disorders (Lupus, RA, etc) treated by vitamin D – May 2016
- 43 percent of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients have Vitamin D prescriptions (15 countries) – June 2017
- Big increase in vitamin D supplementation in just 2 years after Swiss rheumatology report – Dec 2013
- High dose vitamin reduced pain of fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis - July 2015
- Note: Vitamin D receptor problems (such as RA) are best treated by infrequent large doses of Vitamin D
Aim
The aim of this exploratory study is to estimate the relationship between vitamin D (vit D) deficiency and active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and the role of supplementation in improving disease activity.
Method
A randomized recruitment, consent screening, open-label interventional study was conducted in patients who fulfilled American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism 2010 criteria for diagnosing RA and on stable disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for 3 months. Serum vit D levels and Disease Activity Score of 28 joints/C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) disease activity status were estimated at the first visit. Subjects with low vit D levels and DAS28-CRP > 2.6 were supplemented with vit D for 12 weeks, and were assessed for improvement in disease activity and serum vit D levels.
Results
One hundred and fifty RA patients of mean age 49 ± 12.1 years, mean duration of illness 78 ± 63 months, and on treatment with DMARDs for 44 ± 39 months were recruited for the study. Of these, 73 (49%) subjects were found to have DAS28-CRP > 2.6 and serum vit D below 20 ng/mL. The patients received vit D supplement of 60 000 IU/week for 6 weeks, followed by 60 000 IU/month for a total duration of 3 months. Disease activity and vit D status were assessed for 59 (80.8%) patients who reported at the end of 12 weeks of treatment. Mean DAS28-CRP of these patients showed a statistically significant improvement from 3.68 ± 0.93 at baseline to 3.08 ± 1.11 after supplementation (P = 0.002). Serum vit D levels improved from 10.05 ± 5.18 to 57.21 ± 24.77 ng/mL (P < 0.001) during the period.
Conclusion
Supplementation of vit D in RA patients with persisting disease activity and vit D deficiency contributed to significant improvement in disease activity within a short duration.
| 5862 visitors, last modified 02 Jul, 2020, |