Vitamin D status and distribution in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease versus healthy controls

Background: vitamin d has a potential to modulate inflammatory response against noxious particles in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd). the present study was conducted to determine the status of serum vitamin d in copd versus healthy group. methods: the patients presented to the outpatient pulmonary clinic of ayatollah rouhani hospital,babol iran. diagnosis of copd was confirmed based on airflow limitation defined as fev1/fvc ratio <70% and fev1 < 80% of predicted. all eligible patients aged ≥40 years old entered the study. pulmonary infection,tuberculosis,pleural effusion,congestive heart failure,pulmonary hypertension and embolism,restrictive airway disease,conditions leading changes in vitamin d metabolism and absorption were excluded. serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d (25-ohd) was determined by electrocheminluminescence method and levels <20,20-29,and ≥30ng/ml were considered as deficiency,insufficiency,and sufficiency. in statistical analysis,the frequency of serum 25-ohd deficiency and insufficiency in patients were compared regarding age of ≤50 or >50 years old. all patients were males and age and sex-matched controls were selected among healthy subjects accompanied copd patients. results: ninety patients and 100 controls with respective mean (±sd) age of 64.8±11.7 and 62.6±11.7 years old (p=0.19) were studied. compared with control,proportions of serum 25-ohd deficiency and insufficiency in patients >50 years were higher and deficiency was lower (61.5% vs 87.5%,p=0.11). conclusion: these findings indicate that a significant proportion of young copd patients have insufficient serum 25-ohd. regarding a positive relationship between 25-ohd and fev1 in copd,these findings highlight serum 25-ohd assessment in copd for recognizing high risk patients.