Vitamin D3 Does Not Improve Time to Severe Exacerbation in Pediatric Asthma

Vitamin D₃ supplementation did not significantly improved time to a severe asthma exacerbation in children with asthma and vitamin D deficiency, according to the results of a study published in Journal of the American Medical Association.

Children with asthma and vitamin D deficiency taking low-dose inhaled corticosteroids were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of vitamin D₃ supplementation (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02687815). Participants were randomly assigned to receive either vitamin D₃ or placebo for 48 weeks. The primary study outcome was the time to a severe asthma exacerbation. Secondary outcomes included the time to a viral-induced severe exacerbation, and the proportion of participants who reduced inhaled corticosteroid dose halfway through the trial.

Of the 192 participants, 180 (93.8%) completed the trial (96 in each group). A total of 36 participants in the vitamin D₃ group and 33 participants in the placebo group had ≥1 severe exacerbations during the trial.

Vitamin D₃ supplementation did not significantly improve the time to a severe exacerbation (mean number of days, 240 vs 253 in the vitamin D₃ and placebo groups, respectively). Furthermore, vitamin D₃ supplementation did not significantly improve the time to a viral-induced severe exacerbation (mean number of days, 272 vs 281 in the vitamin D₃ and placebo groups, respectively) or improve the proportion of participants whose dose of inhaled corticosteroid could be reduced (n=28 in the vitamin D₃ group vs n=29 in the placebo group).

The study authors wrote, “Among children with persistent asthma and low vitamin D levels, vitamin D₃ supplementation, compared with placebo, did not significantly improve the time to a severe asthma exacerbation.” They added, “The findings do not support the use of vitamin D₃ supplementation to prevent severe asthma exacerbations in this group of patients.”

Disclosure: Several study authors declared affiliations with the pharmaceutical industry. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.

Reference

Forno E, Bacharier LB, Phipatanakul W, et al. Effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on severe asthma exacerbations in children with asthma and low vitamin D levels: the VDKA randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2020;324(8):752-760. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.12384