Is there a relationship between vitamin D levels and graft versus host disease?

Yigenoglu T. N., Ulu B. U., NAMDAROĞLU S., ERKURT M. A., Sahin R., Okumus N., ...Daha Fazla

Transfusion and Apheresis Science, cilt.64, sa.1, 2025 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 64 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.transci.2024.104054
  • Dergi Adı: Transfusion and Apheresis Science
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, BIOSIS, Biotechnology Research Abstracts, MEDLINE
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, Graft vs host disease, Vitamin D
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Objective: Vitamin D deficiency is common in adult patients undergoing allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Since vitamin D is an important regulatory factor for the immune system, vitamin D deficiency may have effects on antitumor activity, relapse rates, graft versus host disease (GVHD) occurrence and infection rates in allo-HSCT. We aimed to investigate the effects of vitamin D levels on the outcome of allo-HSCT. Material and methods: This study included 211 patients who underwent allo-HSCT at seven transplant centers in Türkiye. The impact of pretransplant vitamin D level on overall survival (OS), relapse rate, GVHD occurrence and engraftment times was analyzed retrospectively Results: Pretransplant vitamin D levels were not related to the neutrophil engraftment day (p: 0.887), relapse rate (p: 0.433) and GVHD occurrence (p: 0.391). At a median follow-up of 14 months, OS was 84.8 % and median OS was not reached. Univariate Cox Regression analysis showed that higher levels of vitamin D (>12 ng/mL) affected the survival rates (p = 0.029) (HR: 0.392: 95 % CI: 10.170–0.907). Conclusion: In our study, pretransplant vitamin D levels were not related to GVHD occurrence, relapse rate and engraftment times. However, we found that higher levels of pretransplant vitamin D levels (threshold is 12 ng/mL) were associated with increased survival. Further studies with a larger population are necessary to reveal the role of vitamin D in patients undergoing allo-HSCT.