A clinical trial studied the effects of vitamin D3 supplementation on 94 patients with Crohn's disease over 52 weeks. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either 30 μg of vitamin D3 per day or a placebo. The trial found that vitamin D3 supplementation significantly increased patients' serum vitamin D levels after 3 months. While the difference in relapse rates between the vitamin D and placebo groups was not statistically significant, there were fewer relapses reported in the vitamin D group (6 vs 14 relapses). The results suggest vitamin D3 may help reduce relapse rates in Crohn's disease patients, but larger clinical studies are still needed to confirm these findings.

1. www.pronutritionist.net
Clinical trial: vitamin D3 treatment
in Crohn's disease - a randomised
double-blind placebo-controlled
study.
Jørgensen SP et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther.
2010 May 11. [Epub ahead of print]
Page 1 Jørgensen SP et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2010
May 11

2. Page 2
Background
• Incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as Crohn’s
disease is increasing.
• Incidence of IBD around most northern and southern latitudes is
substantially higher than in latitudes nearer to equator.
Increased incidence in northern and southern latitudes is
connected to lack of sun light and thus, vitamin D.
• Deficit of vitamin D is common among patients with Crohn’s
disease. This is due to worsened absorption of vitamin D from
ileum and low intake.
• No controlled clinical studies have been conducted to determine
the effect of vitamin D supplemention on disease activity in
Crohn’s disease
Jørgensen SP et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2010
May 11
www.pronutritionist.net

3. Methods
• n=94 (randomized 50/50 to placebo and vitamin D)
• Vitamin D3 dose: 30 μg/day (1200 IU/day)
• Length: 52 weeks
• Drugs allowed atzatioprine (none were on biologic
drugs)
• Primary outcomes: Clinical relapse rate at 1 year
• Secondary outcomes: serum 25-OH-vitamin D at
month 3
3 Jørgensen SP et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2010
May 11
www.pronutritionist.net

4. Results
• Serum 25-OH-vitamin D inreased from 69 nmol/l (standard deviation (SD) 31
nmol/l) to mean 96 nmol/l (SD 27 nmol/l) after three months (p < 0.001)
4
( Δ p = 0.06)
14/48
Jørgensen SP et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2010
May 11
www.pronutritionist.net

5. Discussion
• Even if the difference between the groups did not become
statistically significant, there was an absolute difference in
number of relapses between the groups (6 vs 14
relapses, on vitamin D and placebo respectively)
• Results are intriguing, but large scale clinical studies are
needed to confirm findings, preferably with higher dose of
vitamin D
• Optimal vitamin D intake is essential for Crohn’s disease
patients also from bone health perspective. Low vitamin D
status predisposes to development of osteoporosis
5 Jørgensen SP et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2010
May 11
www.pronutritionist.net

6. Discussion
• Even if the difference between the groups did not become
statistically significant, there was an absolute difference in
number of relapses between the groups (6 vs 14
relapses, on vitamin D and placebo respectively)
• Results are intriguing, but large scale clinical studies are
needed to confirm findings, preferably with higher dose of
vitamin D
• Optimal vitamin D intake is essential for Crohn’s disease
patients also from bone health perspective. Low vitamin D
status predisposes to development of osteoporosis
5 Jørgensen SP et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2010
May 11
www.pronutritionist.net