Correlation between the vitamin D levels and asthma attacks in children: Evaluation of the effects of combination therapy of atomization inhalation of budesonide, albuterol and vitamin D supplementation on asthmatic patients

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to analyze the correlation between the vitamin D (VitD) levels and asthma attack in children, and to evaluate the effects of combination therapy of atomization inhalation of budesonide, albuterol and VitD supplementation on asthmatic children. The total sample size comprised of 96 children with asthma from the time period between May 2015 to April 2016. At the same time, 96 healthy children were also selected from the physical examination center for comparison study. The levels of serum VitD in both groups were detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Pulmonary function index that includes the measurement of FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, MEF25 and MEF50 were performed to analyze the results. The patients in the control group were treated with only the budesonide therapy and the patients in the observation group were treated with atomization inhalation of budesonide combined with salbutamol and VitD supplementation. After the treatment, the levels of inflammatory cell indicators (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6 and IFN-γ) and pulmonary function in the two groups were compared. The levels of serum VitD in the children with asthma were significantly lower than those in the normal children. The serum IgE level in children with asthma was significantly higher than that in the normal children (P<0.05). Pearson correlation coefficient analyses showed that VitD levels were not correlated with FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC levels (P>0.05), but was positively correlated with MEF25 and MEF50 (P<0.05). After the treatment, the levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ in the observation group were significantly higher and levels of IL-4 and IL-6 were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The pulmonary function (FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, MEF25 and MEF50) of the observation group was better than that of the control group (P<0.05). The serum VitD levels of children with asthma were closely related to the acute asthmatic attacks. The lower the levels of serum VitD further leads to higher possibility of asthmatic attacks. Atomization inhalation of budesonide combined with albuterol and VitD supplementation can significantly improve the inflammatory response of the children with asthma.

Keywords: albuterol; asthma; budesonide; children; vitamin D.

Figure 1.

Scattergraph of vitamin D (VitD) levels and several indicators. (A) FEV1 levels P>0.05; (B) FVC levels P>0.05; (C) FEV1/FVC levels P>0.05; (D) MEF25 levels P<0.05; (E) MEF50 levels P<0.05; (F) IgE levels P<0.05.