the correlation between vitamin d and bacterial diarrhea in children

Background: acute diarrhea is the most common gastrointestinal disease among children. identification of factors involved in the pathogenesis of acute bacterial diarrhea is highly critical. objectives: this study was conducted to investigate the correlation between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d (25 (oh) vit. d) and acute bacterial diarrhea in children. methods: the present study compared 60 children with acute bacterial diarrhea (the case group) and 60 healthy children (the control group) for serum 25 (oh) vit. d concentrations. the children age ranged from two months to 12 years. the serum 25- hydroxyvitamin d level was measured using elisa method. results: among 60 children with acute bacterial diarrhea, 38 (63.3%) were males and 22 (36.7%) females. in the control group, 31 (51.6%) were males and 29 (48.4%) females (p = 0.26). the median (iqr) of age in case and control groups were 16 (29) and 16 (24) months, respectively (p = 0.75). the mean ± sd of serum 25 (oh) vit. d levels in case and control groups were 19.3 ± 7.8 and 22.4 ± 7.3 ng/ml, respectively. there was a significant difference between groups regarding the serum 25 (oh) vit. d concentrations (p = 0.02). conclusions: this study revealed a significant correlation between serum 25 (oh) vit. d level and acute bacterial diarrhea. it is likely that vitamin d plays a role in the pathogenesis of diarrhea.