Vitamin D Deficiency and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in Children and Adolescents: a Critical Vitamin D Level for This Association?

Abstract

Objective:Vitamin D has been suggested to be active as an immunomodulator in autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). The goal of the present study was to investigate the vitamin D status in HT patients.Methods:This prevalence case-control study was conducted on 90 patients with HT (of ages 12.32±2.87 years) and 79 age-matched healthy controls (11.85±2.28 years). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] levels were measured in all 169 subjects.Results:The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in HT patients (64 of 90; 71.1%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (41 of 79; 51.9%) (p=0.025). Mean serum 25(OH)D3 level in the HT group was significantly lower compared to the control group (16.67±11.65 vs. 20.99±9.86 ng/mL, p=0.001). HT was observed 2.28 times more frequently in individuals with 25(OH)D3 levels <20 ng/mL (OR: 2.28, CI: 1.21-4.3).Conclusion:Vitamin D deficiency is associated with HT in children and adolescents. Levels lower than 20 ng/mL seem to be critical. The mechanism for this association is not clear.

Serum vitamin D level is related to disease severity in pediatric alopecia areata

“…Recently, many studies have reported associations between vitamin D deficiency and a higher incidence of autoimmune disorders in adults such as RA, SLE, psoriasis, vitiligo, MS, IBD, and Behcet disease . Also, relation of vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes mellitus, systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune thyroiditis, and juvenile dermatomyositis has been researched in pediatric population …”

“…Nevertheless, in different autoimmune diseases, vitamin D supplementation has been shown to be therapeutically effective, such as Behcet disease, RA, and SLE in adults . Studies on relationship between vitamin D deficiency and pediatric autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes mellitus, systemic lupus erythematosus, thyroiditis, and juvenile dermatomyositis also revealed therapeutic effects of vitamin D supplementation …”

“…Although 1,25(OH)2D3 is biologically active form, 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) better reflects the all sources of vitamin D exposure and is a stable indicator to predict vitamin D status . Recent studies which have revealed connection between autoimmune diseases, including type I DM, RA, SLE, vitiligo, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis (MS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and vitamin D deficiency suggest that vitamin D deficiency might be an environmental trigger for the induction of autoimmunity …”

“…AA is considered an autoimmune disease and occurs with various autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), type I diabetes mellitus (DM), vitiligo, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), thyroiditis, pemphigus vulgaris, pernicious anemia, and celiac disease. 1,2 Besides playing an important role in calcium homeostasis and [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] The relationship between vitamin D deficiency and AA in adults was reported previously in studies; however, this relationship has not been evaluated comprehensively in pediatric population. In this study, we investigated vitamin D status in AA and its relationship with disease severity, number of patches, and disease duration.…”

Regulatory T Cells and Vitamin D Status in Children with Chronic Autoimmune Thyroiditis

“…Evliyaoğlu et al (23) have investigated vitamin D status in children and adolescents with CAT, and they found that CAT was observed 2.28 times more frequently in individuals with 25(OH)D3 levels <20 ng/mL. Camurdan et al (22) reported lower levels of vitamin D and higher vitamin D deficiency rates in children with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis when compared to the control group (22).…”