PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ole Haagen Nielsen
AU  - Thomas Irgens Hansen
AU  - John Mark Gubatan
AU  - Kim Bak Jensen
AU  - Lars Rejnmark
TI  - Managing vitamin D deficiency in inflammatory bowel disease
AID  - 10.1136/flgastro-2018-101055
DP  - 2019 Oct 01
TA  - Frontline Gastroenterology
PG  - 394--400
VI  - 10
IP  - 4
4099  - http://fg.bmj.com/content/10/4/394.short
4100  - http://fg.bmj.com/content/10/4/394.full
SO  - Frontline Gastroenterol2019 Oct 01; 10
AB  - Management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, is generally cumbersome for patients and is a massive health-economic burden. In recent years, the immunomodulating effects of vitamin D have gained a huge interest in its possible pathogenic influence on the pathophysiology of IBD. Vitamin D deficiency is frequent among patients with IBD. Several clinical studies have pointed to a critical role for vitamin D in ameliorating disease outcomes. Although causation versus correlation unfortunately remains an overwhelming issue in the illusive chicken versus egg debate regarding vitamin D and IBD, here we summarise the latest knowledge of the immunological effects of vitamin D in IBD and recommend from available evidence that physicians regularly monitor serum 25(OH)D levels in patients with IBD. Moreover, we propose an algorithm for optimising vitamin D status in patients with IBD in clinical practice. Awaiting well-powered controlled clinical trials, we consider vitamin D supplementation to be an affordable and widely accessible therapeutic strategy to ameliorate IBD clinical outcomes.