Vitamin D Level and Supplementation in Pediatric Atopic Dermatitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

To determine whether VD levels are correlated with AD severity and the effects of VD supplementation on disease modification.

This was a 2-phase study, using a cross-sectional design to evaluate the relationship between VD level and severity, as well as a double-blinded, randomized control trial to elucidate the effects of VD supplementation.

Why It Was Studied

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition characterized by a pruritic eczematous rash.

Evidence surrounding the role of serum vitamin D (VD) in modifying disease severity is inconsistent.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as young children, children and teenagers, both men and women.

Patients aged 0 to 18 years with AD were included in phase 1, and disease severity and serum VD levels were determined.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group a baseline to be compared against.

Those with renal, liver, or other dermatologic conditions were excluded.

VD level and severity were assessed at baseline and 3 months.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Dermatitis, Atopic and Vitamin D.

The authors tagged it with the keywords atopic dermatitis, pediatric and treatment.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Results are reported in around 5 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2019 (Journal of cutaneous medicine and surgery), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.