title: Vitamin D Supplementation and the Risk of Colds in Patients with Asthma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Restoration of vitamin D sufficiency may reduce asthma exacerbations, events that are often associated with respiratory tract infections and cold symptoms.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether vitamin D supplementation reduces cold symptom occurrence and severity in adults with mild to moderate asthma and vitamin D insufficiency.
  
  
  METHODS
  Colds were assessed in the AsthmaNet VIDA (Vitamin D Add-on Therapy Enhances Corticosteroid Responsiveness) trial, in which 408 adult patients were randomized to receive placebo or cholecalciferol (100,000 IU load plus 4,000 IU/d) for 28 weeks as add-on therapy. The primary outcome was cold symptom severity, which was assessed using daily scores on the 21-item Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 203 participants experienced at least one cold. Despite achieving 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of 41.9 ng/ml (95% confidence interval [CI], 40.1-43.7 ng/ml) by 12 weeks, vitamin D supplementation had no effect on the primary outcome: the average peak WURSS-21 scores (62.0 [95% CI, 55.1-68.9; placebo] and 58.7 [95% CI, 52.4-65.0; vitamin D]; P = 0.39). The rate of colds did not differ between groups (rate ratio [RR], 1.2; 95% CI, 0.9-1.5); however, among African Americans, those receiving vitamin D versus placebo had an increased rate of colds (RR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1-2.7; P = 0.02). This was also observed in a responder analysis of all subjects achieving vitamin D sufficiency, regardless of treatment assignment (RR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1-1.7; P = 0.009).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings in patients with mild to moderate asthma undergoing an inhaled corticosteroid dose reduction do not support the use of vitamin D supplementation for the purpose of reducing cold severity or frequency.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medicine and.|2 Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Loren C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Denlinger
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Tonya S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cardet
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Pediatrics and.|6 Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Holguin
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medicine and.|2 Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: 7 Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.affiliation: 8 Department of Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Stephen P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: 9 Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Kristie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: 10 Department of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Kaharu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sumino
authors.affiliation: 11 Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Homer A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Boushey
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medicine and.|2 Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Nizar N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Jarjour
authors.affiliation: 12 Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, Colorado; and.
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Wechsler
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Pediatrics and.|6 Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Sally E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Wenzel
authors.affiliation: 10 Department of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.affiliation: 13 Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Pedro C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Avila
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015897:Comorbidity; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012306:Risk; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D002762:Cholecalciferol
keywords: WURSS-21; asthma; upper respiratory tract infection; vitamin D