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Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Persistent Clostridium difficile: Presented at DDW By Charlene Laino NEW ORLEANS --- May 11, 2010 --- Hospitalised patients with low vitamin D levels and Clostridium difficile are more likely to have persistent diarrhoea than those with normal levels, a prospective cohort study suggests. C difficile infections resolved in 15 of 28 (53%) hospitalised patients with normal serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and the patients remained free of diarrhoea at 30 days. In contrast, only 9 of 34 (26%) patients with levels below 21 ng/dL cleared their infection and were diarrhoea-free 1 month later (P = .05), reported Moshe Rubin, MD, New York Hospital Queens, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York. Dr. Rubin presented the findings here at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2010 on May 4. The study involved 83 hospitalised patients with documented C difficile infections. The researchers measured serum 25(OH)D levels in all of the patients and then followed their hospital course over the next 30 days. Of the 62 patients who completed the study, 55% had low 25(OH)D levels. Overall, 40% of the patients died during the month. A total of 67% of patients with low vitamin D levels died, compared with 44% of those with normal vitamin D levels, but the difference in mortality rates failed to reach statistical significance (P = .08), he said. At a press conference, Dr. Rubin stressed that the study only shows an association, not cause and effect. Even if the findings are confirmed, low levels of vitamin D may just be a marker for some other damaging factor, said. However, the findings are consistent with studies suggesting vitamin D may have immune-boosting and antibacterial functions, said press briefing moderator Kelly A. Tappenden, PhD, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois. Studies also suggest that low vitamin D levels are associated with higher mortality rates, Dr. Rubin said. The next steps, he said, are studies to confirm the association between low vitamin D and persistent C difficile infections and to determine whether supplements of vitamin D can help to improve symptoms in patients with C difficile and low vitamin D blood levels. Digestive Disease Week 2010 is cosponsored by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT). [Presentation title: Higher Resolution Rate of Clostridia Difficile Enteritis in Hospitalized Patients With Normal Vitamin D Levels. Abstract T1793] E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version