Abstract:
Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are the chronic, disabling illnesses causing inflammation and ulceration all over the gastro-intestinal tract. Vitamin D plays an important role in the regulation of inflammatory immune responses, the surveillance of the microbiota in the gut, and the protection of the stability of the gastrointestinal mucosa. Objective: To determine the vitamin D levels in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases and its correlation with the severity of the disease. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Settings: Physiology department LUMHS/ Jamshoro with collaboration Surgery and Gastroenterology departments of LUMHS Jamshoro, Pakistan. Duration: November 2021-May 2022. Methods: Diagnosed cases of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), both Ulcerative colitis and Crohn`s disease, meeting the criteria were included. A 5 mL blood sample was taken from each case to assess the vitamin D level. All the information was collected through the use of a study proforma, and the analysis was performed with the SPSS programmed 26.0. Results: A total of 60 patients with inflammatory bowel diseases were studied, their average age was 35.66 ± 4.55 years. Out of study participates, the males were 60.0% and females were 40.0%. 43.3% of the cases had mild disease, 43.3% had moderate disease, and 13.4% had severe disease. Most of the cases 73.3% had moderate deficiency, 13.3% of study participants had mild deficiency, and 13.3% of cases had severe deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency was found to be statistically significant according to gender (p = 0.059), and there was a statistically significant association between vitamin D deficiency and disease severity (p = 0.002). Conclusion: The deficiency of vitamin D was observed to be highly prevalent among patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.