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JACI Highlights - July 2008
Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are lower in urban African-Americans with chronic rhinosinusitis
Jayant M Pinto, MD, John Schneider, MD, Rosanne Perez, BS, Marcella DeTineo, BSN, Fuad M Baroody, MD, and Robert M Naclerio, MD
Vitamin D has been found to decrease the risk of many chronic illnesses such as cancer, autoimmunity, infection, and cardiovascular disease. Recently, the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and diseases that involve tissue inflammation, such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and anaphylaxis has received great interest.. The body's production of Vitamin D is stimulated by exposure of the skin to sunshine, and researchers have shown that anaphylaxis appears to be more prevalent in geographic areas that receive less sun exposure, suggesting a link to reduced Vitamin D levels. Expanding on this research, Pinto et al published a brief report in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology describing their study of patients with severe, persistent sinus disease (CRS), which is characterized by severe inflammation of the sinus membranes. They tried to determine if Vitamin D plays a role in the development of CRS. In addition to measuring blood levels of Vitamin D in their subjects, the authors analyzed factors that are known to affect Vitamin D levels such as sex, race, season, and body mass index. They found that ethnicity made a difference: African American subjects with CRS had significantly lower Vitamin D levels than control subjects who did not have CRS. These African American subjects with CRS also had lower levels than Caucasian subjects with CRS. (Their data also showed that the vitamin D level was lower in the winter months.) This finding provides another link between vitamin D and allergic/inflammatory diseases. The authors advocate further research to validate these results and to determine whether low levels of Vitamin D are related to the severity of the disease or its symptoms. If these findings are confirmed, taking vitamin D to restore normal levels may represent a new therapeutic option for patients with sinus disease.
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