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Vitamin D status and risk for sarcopenia in youth with inflammatory bowel diseases

Abstract

Suboptimal vitamin D (vitD) status and reduced lean body mass are highly prevalent in pediatric inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The study objective was to determine sarcopenia prevalence and associations with vitD status in newly diagnosed pediatric IBD. Children with Crohn’s disease (CD; n = 58) and ulcerative colitis (UC; n = 27) were included. Primary outcomes included body composition (total/regional/percent fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), skeletal muscle mass (SMM)), and vitD status (serum 25(OH)D). Sarcopenia was defined as SMM-z < –2. Additional variables measured included serum CRP, ESR, anthropometric, Pediatric Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (PCDAI), and the Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Disease Activity index (PUCAI). Sarcopenia and suboptimal 25(OH)D levels (< 50 nmol/l) were found in 23.5% (n = 20) and 52% (n = 44) of children, respectively. Younger children (< 13 years) with CD with suboptimal 25(OH)vitD (< 50 nmol/l) had the greatest frequency of sarcopenia (57.1%) (p = 0.004). Sarcopenia was prevalent in newly diagnosed, young children with CD with vitD deficiency.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this cohort was provided by Stollery Children’s Hospital foundation through the Women and Children’s Research Institute and the Canadian Children IBD Network: a joint partnership of the CH.I.L.D. Foundation and CIHR is gratefully acknowledged. KRM was funded by the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation/Lois Hole Hospital for Women through the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute Graduate Scholarship and the Wirtanen Graduate Scholarship (Alberta Diabetes Institute).

Author contributions

DM: study design, data analysis/interpretation, and writing/review/final approval of manuscript. MC: study design, data collection/interpretation, and writing/review manuscript. EW: study design, data collection/interpretation, and review/final approval manuscript. PM, KM, JW, CK and JW responsible for study design and data collection/review/final approval of manuscript. MC and JW: data interpretation and review/final approved manuscript. JMT: data analysis/interpretation and review/final approval manuscript. HQ: study design, data collection, data analysis/interpretation, and writing/review/final approval manuscript.

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Correspondence to H Q Huynh.

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Mager, D.R., Carroll, M.W., Wine, E. et al. Vitamin D status and risk for sarcopenia in youth with inflammatory bowel diseases. Eur J Clin Nutr 72, 623–626 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0105-2

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