Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Clinical Outcomes of Sickle Cell Disease

Abstract

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hereditary hemoglobinopathy characterized by hemolytic anemia and intermittent occlusion of small vessels, chronic organ damage, and organ dysfunction. Vitamin D deficiency has emerged as a public health focus in recent years and it is one of the most common nutritional conditions among persons with SCD and there are characteristics specific to SCD that may contribute to this phenomenon including decreased appetite, inability to absorb nutrients due to damage to the intestinal mucosa, as well as an increased basal metabolic rate and higher nutritional demands to sustain normal physiologic functioning. Our study included 50 children and adolescents with sickle cell disease recruited from the regular attendants Hematology/Oncology Clinic in Pediatric Hospital, Ain Shams University. Patients with sickle cell disease as confirmed by qualitative and quantitative analysis of hemoglobin using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) at their steady state were recruited. Patients with any inflammatory condition within one month prior to sample collection and those on vitamin D and \or calcium supplementation in the last 6 months were excluded. They were divided into two groups according to their serum vitamin D level; Group I included 27 patients with vitamin D level more than 30 nmol and Group II included