Correlation of serum vitamin D level, bone mineral density and disease activity in Axial spondyloarthritis

Abstract

Chronic inflammation is always linked with accelerated loss of bone mineral density and new bone formation in axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA). Vitamin D is an endogenous modulators of the immune system, which generally slow down the inflammatory process by reducing the activity of T cell along with its proliferation. Here in this study we focused on the relationship between these elements in axial spondyloarthritis. A total of 40 cases were registered during the study period. In this observational study, we included cases of Spondyloarthritis (Sp) who were all having axial spondyloarthritis (SpAx). Along with all clinical profiling of these patients we also included the different history of the patients like duration of disease, addiction (drugs and smoking), steroid medication. We analysed here the Bone Mineral Density (BMD) along with the investigations like HLA B27, BATH indices and Vitamin D levels. A total of 27 cases (67.5%) was found decreased bone mass. There was a significant positive correlation of T-score with vitamin D levels (p=0.57, p=0.0001), which indicates that low vitamin D in serum is associated with osteoporosis (low T score). The BATH indices (BASDAI & BASMI) exhibited no correlation with serum vitamin D levels. In conclusion, BMD was low in majority of patients with AxSpA. In our study we found that factors that are related with low BMD in male patients of AxSpA may be multifactorial but it seems that vitamin D major role in osteoporosis.