Allergy to House dust mite greatly reduced by adding just 600 IU of vitamin D – RCT Nov 2014

Vitamin D as an adjunct to subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy in asthmatic children sensitized to house dust mite.

Allergy. 2014 Feb;69(2):246-53. doi: 10.1111/all.12278. Epub 2013 Nov 4.
Baris S1, Kiykim A, Ozen A, Tulunay A, Karakoc-Aydiner E, Barlan IB.

BACKGROUND:
We aimed to investigate the efficacy, safety, and T regulatory cell response of vitamin D as an adjunct to allergen-specific immunotherapy (IT).
METHODS:
Fifty children with asthma and receiving pharmacotherapy were randomized into three groups as: subcutaneous IT (SCIT) along with vitamin D supplementation (650 U/day; n: 17), SCIT alone (n: 15), and pharmacotherapy alone (n: 18). All patients were evaluated at baseline, 6th and 12th months for scorings of symptoms and medication, skin prick testing, total IgE, specific IgE, and Der p 1-specific IgG4. In addition, D. pteronyssinus-induced CD4(+) CD25(+) FOXP3(+) T regulatory cell percentage, intracellular Foxp3 expression, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell IL-10 and TGF-β responses were assessed.
RESULTS:
In the SCIT + vitamin D and SCIT alone groups, total asthma symptom score (TASS), total symptom score (TSS), and total medication scores (TMS) were significantly lower than pharmacotherapy group at the end of 1 year. While the comparison of delta values (Δ 6th and Δ 12th month - baseline) of those scores revealed no significant differences between the two IT groups, TASS at the 6th month was lower in the SCIT + vitamin D group compared with others. There was a significant and positive trend in the levels of Der p 1-specific IgG4 in both IT groups throughout the study period. Whereas the levels of Der p 1-induced IL-10 and TGF-β were similar between IT groups, the mean fluorescence intensity of Foxp3 was highest in the SCIT + vitamin D group compared with others at the 12th month. The rate of discontinuation of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) was 6/17 in SCIT + vitamin D, 3/15 in SCIT, and 0/18 in the pharmacotherapy group (P = 0.02).
CONCLUSION:
Both SCIT groups fared better than pharmacotherapy alone at the end of 1 year. Although the clinical and immunologic outcomes were mostly similar between the two IT groups, some favorable outcomes of vitamin D warrant further investigation in more selected populations with varying doses as adjunct to IT.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMID: 24180595

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Summary by VitaminDWiki

Therapy	stopped inhaled corticosteroid after 1 year
SCIT	3 out of 15 (20%)
SCIT + 600 IU of Vitamin D	6 out of 17 (35%)
Pharmacotherapy	0 out of 18 (0%)

Comment by VitaminDWiki

While the results of this RCT are impressive (75% improvement), they would hae been much better if more vitamin D had been used.
Doubt that SCIT would be needed when sufficient vitamin D is given

See also VitaminDWiki

• Allergy - Overview
• Overview Asthma and Vitamin D
• Proof that Vitamin D Works Asthma has been proven to be treated by at least 4 Random Controlled trials with Vitamin D intervention
• All items in Breathing and Vitamin D 452 items includes Asthma, Pneunomia, RTI, TB, Allergy, COPD