Children with hemoglobin E/β-thalassemia have a high risk of being vitamin D deficient even if they get abundant sun exposure: a study from Thailand.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Vitamin D is a key component in calcium homeostasis, bone mineralization and immune function, and people with a vitamin D deficiency may therefore be at higher risk of osteoporosis, osteopenia, delayed growth and fractures. Vitamin D deficiency is a known clinical complication of patients with β-thalassemia major; however, as yet there are limited data on the vitamin D status of patients with Hb E/β-thalassemia. Hb E/β-thalassemia is characterized by a wide clinical heterogeneity ranging from non-transfusion dependency to transfusion dependency. Because patients with Hb E/β-thalassemia are so clinically diverse, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency might differ among Hb E/β-thalassemia patients.

PROCEDURE:

We investigated the vitamin D status of 109 children with Hb E/β-thalassemia who attended the Pediatric Hematology Clinic at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, from April 2009 to March 2010.

RESULTS:

Forty-nine of the children were classified as transfusion-dependent (TD) and the remainder (n = 60) as non-transfusion-dependent (NTD). Only 10.1% of the children in our study had normal vitamin D levels, despite Thailand's geographic position 15° N and 100° E and climate, which provides abundant sunlight exposure and therefore efficient vitamin D synthesis. In addition, NTD children were significantly more likely to be vitamin D deficient than TD children (P = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS:

Our results highlight the importance of monitoring serum vitamin D levels in children with Hb E/β-thalassemia regardless of their clinical severity or the amount of sunlight they are exposed to.

• Authors: Pairunyar Nakavachara, Vip Viprakasit
• Journal: Pediatric blood & cancer (Pediatr Blood Cancer) Vol. 60 Issue 10 Pg. 1683-8 (Oct 2013) ISSN: 1545-5017 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 23733667 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Chemical References

• Vitamin D
• Hemoglobin E

Topics

• Adolescent
• Blood Transfusion
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Female
• Hemoglobin E
• Humans
• Male
• Thailand (epidemiology)
• Vitamin D (blood)
• Vitamin D Deficiency (blood, epidemiology, etiology)
• beta-Thalassemia (blood, complications, epidemiology, therapy)