Vitamin D Research In Brief
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Insufficiency common with osteoporosis: Vitamin D insufficiency is "remarkably common" in pediatric patients with primary and secondary osteopenia or osteoporosis, according to a study in the June Pediatrics journal. Researchers led by Sasigarn A. Bowden, of the endocrinology and nephrology divisions at Columbus (Ohio) Children's Hospital/Ohio State University College of Medicine, monitored serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D - the physically active form of the vitamin - parathyroid hormone and other bone markers, as well as bone mineral density, in 85 pediatric patients with primary osteoporosis and secondary osteopenia. They found vitamin D insufficiency - defined as serum 25-OH D at less than 30 nanograms per milliliter - in 80 percent of the patients, while overt vitamin D deficiency - 25-OH D at less than 10 ng/ml - was present in 3.5 percent. The researchers also found an inverse relationship between 25-OH D and parathyroid hormone levels, which suggests a "physiologic impact of insufficient vitamin D levels that may contribute to low bone mass or worsen the primary bone disease." Bowden et al. suggest monitoring and supplementation with vitamin D should be a priority...