TITLE:
Serum Vitamin D Levels of Children with Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis and Normal in Kinshasa
AUTHORS:
Léon Muamba Nkashama, David Kayembe Lubeji, Mireille Solange Nganga, Dieu Donné Nyembue Tshipukane
KEYWORDS:
Serum 25(OH)D3, Time Spent Outdoors, Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis, Body Mass Index
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.12 No.2,
April
27,
2022
ABSTRACT: Background: Data on the serum vitamin D3 levels of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) children are not known well
in Central Africa. Children with vernal keratoconjunctivitis are less exposed to sunlight. There
is no study that shows the breadth of the serum vitamin D3 levels of vernal
keratoconjunctivitis children and normal in our setting. Purpose: This
study aimed to compare the serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D3] levels of children with and
without VKC. Methods: An observational, case-control study was performed
from September 2019 to February 2020 in the Ophthalmology Department and the
Clinical Biology Department of the University Hospital of Kinshasa. The case group was recruited
consecutively in the consultation while the control group was enrolled in the
nearest Rehoboth school complex using a systematic sample method (k = 4) on the
presence register. Both cases and controls underwent the routine
ophthalmological examination of the anterior segment and serum vitamin D3 levels
were measured in both cases and controls using Mindray Chimic-Luminescence
(CL)-1200i. Data were entered in Microsoft Sheets and
analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. The Mann-Whitney-U test (M-U), and the t-Student test were used respectively to compare the mean serum vitamin D3 levels in both cases and
controls. The correlation of Spearman (rho) was used to determine the
association between Body Mass Index and serum vitamin D3 levels in the case group. Results: A total
of 75 children with VKC (mean age 7.8 ± 4.4 years) and 75 children without VKC non-atopic control group (mean
age 7.9 ± 4.3 years) were enrolled in this
study. The vitamin D3 deficiency was more frequent among the case group than in the control group (40% vs 8%,
p = 0.0001). Vitamin D3 insufficiency was more frequent in the case group than in the control group (33.3% vs
18.6%, p = 0.04). The mean
serum vitamin 25(OH)D3 levels were statistically lower in children with VKC compared to those without (25.5 ± 8.7 ng/ml and 44.3 ± 18.5 ng/ml, p = 0.0001). Time spent outdoors
during daylight by children with VKC was statistically lower than children
without VKC (1.59 ± 0.71
hours and 2.28 ± 1.08 hours, respectively) (p
= 0.0001). Body Mass
Index and serum vitamin D3 levels in VKC children showed a negative correlation
statistically significant (Spearman, rho = -0.452, p = 0.0001). Conclusion: This
study showed statistically values of serum vitamin D3 levels in VKC children lower than in children without VKC.