TY - JOUR T1 - Vitamin D deficiency in lung transplant patients: Is it important? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p3063 AU - Stijn Verleden AU - Robin Vos AU - Stéphanie Devleeschauwer AU - Annemie Vaneylen AU - Lieven Dupont AU - Geert Verleden AU - Dirk Vanraemdonck AU - Bart Vanaudenaerde Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p3063.abstract N2 - Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency is getting a lot of attention lately in various pulmonary disorders like COPD and asthma due to its immunomodulatory effect. Moreover a link between disease progression and vitamin D deficiency has been reported. The aim of this study is to evaluate vitamin D deficiency in LTx patients and to examine effect on lung function.Methods: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) levels in blood and lung function (%predicted) were measured in 132 lung transplant patients during their yearly check-up post transplant stay (median (IQR) 1067 (371-1448)d).Results: Vitamin D deficiency (<30 ng/ml) occurred in 63/132 patients (47.7%), 26 of these patients were severely deficient (<20 ng/ml), while 37 had levels >20 but <30 ng/ml. The FEV1 was significantly lower in the deficient group compared to the group with normal levels. Moreover there was a correlation between FEV1 and vitamin D levels (p=0.0044 and R=0.25).Figure legend: (left) 63/132 patients had deficient vitamin D levels (47.7%). (right) The FEV1 (%pred) is significantly lower in the deficient (<30 ng/ml) compared to normal group (>30 ng/ml).Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is present in almost half of the lung transplant patients, associated with an impairment of lung function. This clearly shows potential for vitamin D in LTx. This is why we are currently performing a randomized placebo controlled trial about the role of vitamin D supplementation in LTx patients.NCT01212406. ER -