Is there a relationship between low vitamin D and rotaviral diarrhea?

Abstract

For children under 5 years of age, 1700 000 000 episodes of diarrhea are seen worldwide, and death occurs in 700 000 of these cases due to diarrhea. Rotavirus is an important cause of diarrhea in this age group, and many studies have shown that vitamin D plays a pivotal role in the immune system, as well as in antimicrobial peptide gene expression. In addition, lower vitamin D has been correlated with higher rates of infectious diseases such as respiratory tract infection, tuberculosis, and viral infection. Seventy patients with rotaviral diarrhea and 67 healthy patients were enrolled in this study. Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D₃ (25(OH)D₃), parathormone, calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, complete blood count parameters, and C-reactive protein were compared between pre-school children hospitalized due to rotaviral diarrhea and healthy children. Additionally, birthweight, feeding habits in the first 6 months of life, vitamin D and multivitamin supplements, and rotaviral vaccinations were also evaluated in each group. There were no differences between the groups with regard to gender and age, but 25(OH)D₃ was significantly different: 14.6 ± 8.7 ng/mL in the rotaviral diarrhea patients versus 29.06 ± 6.51 ng/mL in the health controls (P < 0.001), and serum 25(OH)D₃ P < 0.001) was associated with rotaviral diarrhea. Low vitamin D is associated with rotaviral diarrhea. This is the first study in the literature to show this, and this result needs to be repeated in larger controlled clinical studies.