Vitamin D Deficiency and Psoriasis: A Cross-Sectional study of Iranian Population in Yazd Province

Psoriasis is an inflammatory disease of the skin and the joints. Psoriatic patients sometimes suffer from vitamin D deficiency and hypocalcemia. The aim of our study was to evaluate the level of calcium and vitamin D in patients with psoriasis.

In this analytical cross sectional study, 110 cases of psoriasis that were referred to Shohadaye Mehrab clinic during 2015 and 110 non-psoriatic patients enrolled. Serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, parathyroid hormone (PTH), alkaline phosphatase (ALK) and 25- hydroxy vitamin D3 [(25OH) D3] were measured in both groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 19. Chi square test and T-test were used for statistical analysis.

Among110 patients with psoriasis 74 (67.3%) were men and 36 (32.75%) were women. There was no significant difference in the serum level of calcium (P-value: 0.563), phosphorus (P-value: 0.381), PTH (P-value: 0.364) and ALK (P-value: 0.639) between two groups. Vitamin D deficiency was found in 64.5% of psoriatic patients and 60% of the controls (P-value= 0.45); However 30.9% of psoriatic and 17.3% of the controls suffered from severe hypovitaminosis D. This difference was statistically significant (P-value= 0.014).

We found a significant relationship between severe hypovitaminosis D and psoriasis. This finding revealed the need for evaluation of psoriatic patients for the presence of vitamin D deficiency.