Vitamin D supplementation reduced IBD-related hospitalizations and corticosteroid use: Study

A new study published in the journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology showed that the possibility of vitamin D supplementation as an inexpensive adjuvant in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was supported by its association with a decrease in IBD-related ED visits, hospitalizations, and corticosteroid use.

Providing vitamin D is undoubtedly the most practical and efficient method to break the positive feedback loop that has been suggested to exist between vitamin D deficiency, the inflammatory process, and IBD. Intestinal dysbiosis, immunological disorders, genetic predisposition, and environmental risk factors are all linked to the pathophysiology of IBD. This study assessed the practical effects of vitamin D supplementation on hospitalizations, ED visits, and corticosteroid use in IBD patients.

The patients with IBD who were seen in the nationwide Veterans Health Administration system between 2000 and 2023 were the subjects of this retrospective cohort research. All individuals who received a vitamin D lab test within the previous 3 months without a prescription for vitamin D were included. Before and after the 25-hydroxyvitamin D assay, this research compared the vitamin D-treated and untreated groups using a quasi-experimental design with difference-in-differences analysis. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) regression and regression discontinuity design (RDD) were employed in sensitivity studies to validate the findings of the initial study.

The median 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was 23 ng/mL among 5,021 IBD patients (median age 63; 89% male; 58% ulcerative colitis, 39% Crohn's disease, and 3% indeterminate colitis), and 41% of them took vitamin D supplements. IBD-related ED visits decreased by 2.17% (34.4% RRR, p=0.007), hospitalizations decreased by 2.64% (53.18% relative risk reduction (RRR), p=0.003), and corticosteroid prescriptions decreased by 1.29% (25.13% RRR, p=0.066) when vitamin D supplementation was taken. The RDD and inverse probability weighted regression analysis produced comparable findings.

Overall, supplementation was associated with better long-term results in this recent study which included 5,021 patients with vitamin D deficiency and IBD. Supplementing with vitamin D reduced the use of corticosteroids by 25%, hospitalizations by 53%, and ED visits by 34%. These advantages were noted in both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, suggesting that it might be used as a supplement to IBD treatment.

Reference:

Sninsky, J. A., Sansgiry, S., Taylor, T., Perrin, M., Kanwal, F., & Hou, J. K. (2025). The real-world impact of vitamin D supplementation on inflammatory bowel disease clinical outcomes. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology: The Official Clinical Practice Journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2025.07.013