Is Vitamin D Insufficiency Also Involved in Childhood Asthma in South Korea?

Purpose: Vitamin D is one of essential nutrients for immune modulator effector. Recently, epidemiologic studies have shown that the lack of vitamin D levels may be associated with high asthma prevalence. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of serum vitamin D levels with the prevalence of pediatric asthma in Korea.

Methods: This study was conducted on 34 asthmatic children and 30 healthy controls aged 6-14 years. Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 (25-OH vitamin D) levels were measured and compared between the two groups. Moreover, the relationship between serum 25-OH vitamin D levels and pulmonary function test and environmental factors for sunshine were examined in asthmatic patients.

Results: Serum 25-OH vitamin D levels in asthmatic patients (16.63 ± 4.20 ng/ml) were significantly (p<0.05) lower than that in healthy controls (24.24 ± 6.76 ng/ml). Also, we found that when serum vitamin D level is 1 ng/ml decreases, the prevalence of asthma increase to 0.788-fold (OR, 0.788; 95% CI, 0.707-0.879; p<0.001). However, there were no associations with vitamin D level and pulmonary function and sunshine related factors, such as housing type, living floor, and indoor/outdoor activity time.

Conclusion: These results suggest that serum vitamin D levels were associated with pediatric asthma in Korea. For prevention and treatment of asthma, an intervention study in asthmatic children with low serum vitamin D level, and a vitamin D study assessed the optimal delivery and safety of its supplementation is needed.