title: Etiology of rickets in Nigerian children.
abstract: We studied 26 Nigerian children with active rickets (13 boys, 13 girls), aged 1 to 5 years, and compared results of biochemical studies with those of healthy control subjects. The plasma 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D level was elevated (568 +/- 317 pmol/L) and the 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was (36 +/- 28 mol/L) in the children with rickets compared with the control subjects (369 +/- 134 nmol/L and 69 +/- 22 nmol/L, respectively). The results suggest that rickets in Nigeria is largely the result of calcium deficiency and that vitamin D deficiency and possibly end organ resistance may be contributory factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Oginni
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Worsfold
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Oyelami
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Davie
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D012279:Rickets / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium