Title:Serum Vitamin D Levels in Children with Immune Thrombocytopenia
Volume: 20
Issue: 2
Author(s): Giuseppe Lassandro, Francesco Carriero, Viviana Palmieri, Valentina Palladino, Anna Amoruso, Maria Filomena Gallone, Giovanni C. Del Vecchio, Silvio Tafuri, Giovanna Russo, Federica Valente and Paola Giordano*
Affiliation:
- Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Pediatric Unit, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari,Italy
Keywords:
Autoimmunity, children, D vitamin, immune thrombocytopenia, platelets, chronicity.
Abstract:
Objective: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an acquired immuno-mediated disorder characterized
by thrombocytopenia with an increased risk of bleeding. In recent years 1,25[OH]2D3 has
been rediscovered as an immune modulator. We decided to evaluate serum Vitamin D levels in a cohort
of children with immune thrombocytopenia in order to discover if Vitamin D concentrations may
predict ITP duration.
Methods: Thirty children were enrolled in this study (sixteen with chronic ITP and fourteen with
newly diagnosed ITP) to assess serum Vitamin D levels.
Results: The results showed that 80% of the enrolled children presented a D hypovitaminosis status.
Children with newly diagnosis ITP showed no statistically significantly higher median values of Vitamin
D compared to chronic ITP.
Conclusion: This study may suggest that Vitamin D deficiency does not represent a chronicity factor
for ITP. However, further studies are needed to understand the role of Vitamin D in ITP pathogenesis.
