The study aimed to investigate the impact of various clinical factors, including vitamin D levels, on the efficacy of vedolizumab therapy in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of 88 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD) who received vedolizumab treatment at Houston Methodist between 2018 and 2022.
Key findings included:
- Patients with UC who had higher pre-treatment vitamin D levels (≥ 30 ng/mL) showed significantly lower UC Endoscopic Index of Severity (UCEIS) scores after six months of therapy compared to those with lower vitamin D levels (1.5 vs. 3.87, p = 0.037).
- After treatment, patients with higher baseline vitamin D levels saw more significant increases in vitamin D levels compared to those with lower baseline levels.
- In CD patients, those with higher vitamin D levels at the start of vedolizumab therapy had higher iron saturation and vitamin B12 levels than those with lower vitamin D levels.
- Post-treatment CD patients with higher pre-treatment vitamin D levels also had significantly higher vedolizumab levels and lower inflammatory markers (HBI, CRP, ESR, SES-CD).
Conclusively, the study highlighted that higher pre-treatment vitamin D levels correlated with improved endoscopic outcomes in UC and lowered inflammatory markers in CD following vedolizumab therapy. The findings suggest that optimizing vitamin D levels may be crucial in enhancing clinical outcomes and should be routinely assessed and managed in IBD patients undergoing vedolizumab treatment.
Why the study looked specifically at patients receiving vedolizumab, there are some interesting points in terms of the association between Vitamin D and treatment outcomes.
Abraham BP, Fan C, Thurston T, Moskow J, Malaty HM. The Role of Vitamin D in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treated with Vedolizumab. Nutrients. 2023 Nov 20;15(22):4847. doi: 10.3390/nu15224847. PMID: 38004241; PMCID: PMC10674273.