Effect of vitamin D supplementation on clinical outcome and biochemical profile in South Indian population with vitamin D-deficient chronic urticarial - A randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Chronic urticaria (CU) is a debilitating inflammatory skin disease. Prior studies have shown reduced concentrations of vitamin D in CU and there are limited reports of potential beneficial role for vitamin D supplementation in the treatment of subjects with CU. We assessed the effect of vitamin D supplementation in vitamin D deficient CU patients on the clinical outcome and inflammatory markers in South Indian patients with CU. METHODS: This randomized controlled trial involved 120 vitamin-D deficient CU patients. Urticaria activity score (UAS7) and autologous plasma skin test (APST) status was assessed in all cases. CU patients were supplemented with vitamin D with a dose of 60,000 IU fortnightly for a period of 12 weeks and those in the placebo arm received matched placebo. Five milliliters of blood was drawn from all study subjects at baseline and after 12 weeks for assessing inflammatory markers. RESULTS: We observed a significant reduction in UAS7 scores after 12 weeks in the vitamin D treated group in comparison to that of placebo. We also noted a significant reduction of the inflammatory cytokines in the vitamin D treated group. CONCLUSION: Supplementation with vitamin D among patients with vitamin D deficient CU significantly decreases disease severity which is probably mediated through reduction of systemic inflammation.

An investigation of vitamin D status in alopecia areata.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a type of non-scarring, recurrent patchy loss of hair in hair-bearing areas and is mostly of autoimmune origin. Previous studies have suggested that some autoimmune diseases were found to be associated with vitamin D deficiency. The current study was designed to assess the levels of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D and C-reactive protein in AA, as compared with controls and to further identify the association between vitamin D levels and disease severity in patients with AA. This cross-sectional study included 45 patients with AA and 45 healthy volunteers. Clinical and anthropometric parameters were recorded, according to a pre-designed proforma. Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were estimated using ELISA kits. The severity of AA was determined using Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) score. We observed a significant rise in systemic inflammation as seen by elevated high-sensitive C-reactive protein levels and lowered 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in patients with alopecia areata, compared to controls (p = 0.001). The levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D showed a significant negative correlation with disease severity, while hs-CRP levels showed a significant positive correlation with disease severity (ρ = - 0.714, p = 0.001 and ρ = 0.818, p = 0.001). Our results suggest significant systemic inflammation and vitamin D deficiency in alopecia areata, more so with increasing disease severity. This gains particular importance in the treatment of alopecia areata in future, as supplementing vitamin D to AA patients would result in reducing the disease severity and inducing remission.

Effect of obestatin on body weight, serum glucose and insulin levels in albino rats

Obestatin, a peptide encoded by the ghrelin precursor gene, is said to exert actions opposite to that of ghrelin. While ghrelin is said to increase appetite and decrease energy expenditure, thus causing weight gain, obestatin acts like an anorexic hormone, decreasing appetite and reducing body weight gain, besides other effects such as reducing serum insulin and glucose levels. However, these actions have been submitted to serious contests with many laboratories opposing each others’ arguments. In our studies on albino rats, obestatin was administered for two different periods of time. One group received intraperitoneal obestatin for one week, while the other got it for two weeks. The control animals received the vehicle alone. It was found that obestatin brought about a reduction in the final body weight, while the control rats continued to gain weight during the period of the experiments. The more the duration of administration of the hormone, more pronounced are the results. There was a fall in the serum glucose and insulin levels in the obestatin-treated rats in comparison with the control rats. Therefore, it was concluded that the anti-obesity hormone obestatin decreases the food intake and the body weight by lessening the appetite in the experimental rats. The study may have implications for its use in obesity (AU)

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