title: Is vitamin D deficiency a feature of pediatric celiac disease?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune enteropathy characterized by villus atrophy and malabsorption of essential nutrients. Vitamin D deficiency has been described in autoimmune diseases, but its status in prepubertal children with CD has not been adequately studied.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the vitamin D status of prepubertal children with CD.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study of prepubertal children aged 3-12 years with CD (n=24) who were compared to prepubertal, non-CD children of the same age (n=50). Children were included in the study if they had a diagnosis of CD by intestinal biopsy, and were not on a gluten-free diet (GFD). Patients were excluded if they had diseases of calcium or vitamin D metabolism, or were receiving calcium or vitamin D supplementation or had other autoimmune diseases. All subjects had their serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no difference in 25(OH)D level between the CD and non-CD children (27.58 +/- 9.91 versus 26.20 +/- 10.45, p = 0.59). However, when the patients were subdivided into obese and non-obese groups, the non-obese CD patients had a significantly higher 25(OH)D level than the obese normal children (28.39 +/- 10.26 versus 21.58 +/- 5.67, p = 0.009). In contrast, there was no difference in 25(OH)D level between non-obese CD patients and non-obese normal children (28.39 +/- 10.26 versus 30.64 +/-12.08, p = 0.52). The season of 25(OH)D measurement was not a significant confounder (p =0.7).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data showed no difference in 25(OH) D levels between normal children and those with CD when adjusted for body mass index.
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, 01655, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villanueva
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maranda
authors.forename: Benjamin Udoka
authors.initials: BU
authors.lastname: Nwosu
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000502:physiology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D