Assessment of the Effect of Vitamin D Deficiency on Ocular Dryness

Abstract

his was a prospective non-randomized study conducted on 36 patients with Vitamin D deficiency; to evaluate the relation between vitamin D deficiency, dry eye and impaired tear function. Dry eye is a multifactorial condition characterized by chronic inflammation of the lacrimal functional unit and loss of tear film stability causing deterioration in normal functions. Vitamin D deficiency, described commonly as serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels of < 20 ng/mL is increasingly thought to be linked to various health problems, including malignancies, type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension and cardiovascular diseases and also eye disorders such as optic neuritis and myopia. In addition, it is proposed that vitamin D may help to prevent dry eyes by inducing cathelicidin, an anti-microbial protein that can be produced by cells in the eyes and heal eye wounds. The following tests were done to patients in our study: Careful history taking, full ophthalmological examination, Schirmer test, Tear break-up time and Optical coherence tomography (anterior segment). Follow up for our patients in the study after taking vitamin D supplement for 3 month and all the previous tests were repeated again.