Dublin, Ireland—While Vitamin D (vitD) has proven in the past to offer many health benefits, a new study has found that “vitD supplementation may prolong remission in Crohn’s disease (CD),” according to the abstract of the study published in June’s issue of United European Gastroenterology Journal.

CD is a chronic relapsing and remitting gastrointestinal condition that is characterized by inflammation, which is associated with abdominal pain, diarrhea and fatigue.

In the double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study, 27 patients with CD in remission were assigned to take 2,000 IUs per day of vitD for three months. Several factors were measured at the beginning and the end of the three months, including intestinal permeability (IP), plasma cathelicidin (LL-37 in ng/mL), human-beta-defensin-2 (hBD2 in pg/mL), disease activity (Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (CDAI)), C-reactive protein (CRP in mg/L), fecal calprotection (µg/g), Quality of Life (QoL) and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D in nmol/L).

At the three-month mark, researchers found that those with 25(OH)D greater than 75 nmol/L had a higher LL-37 concentrations, higher QoL, lower CRP and non-significantly lower CDAI scores than those that had a 25(OH)D lower than 75 nmol/L.

In conclusion, it was found that vitD supplementation increased the levels of 25(OH)D in CD patients in remission it was associated with increased LL-37 concentrations and maintenance of IP, according to the abstract.

Published in WholeFoodsMagazine, August 2015 (online 6/22/2015).