Panacea Journal of Medical Sciences

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Correlation between Vitamin-D and Calcium levels with severity of nail involvement in psoriasis: An observational study from Northern India

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Original Article

Author Details : Shikha Khare*, Tamal Trivedi

Volume : 10, Issue : 2, Year : 2020

Article Page : 162-166

https://10.18231/j.pjms.2020.034

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Abstract

Introduction: Psoriasis is a common chronic autoimmune inflammatory multisystem disease mainly
involving skin, nails and joints. Several studies have reported lower levels of vitamin D and calcium in
psoriasis. But there is paucity of literature regarding levels of vitamin D and calcium in nail psoriasis.
Objective: To study the level of Vitamin D and calcium in psoriasis patients with nail involvement and to
correlate their levels with nail severity using Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI).
Materials and Methods: A total of 60 psoriasis patients with nail changes were recruited for the study. The
severity of nail changes was calculated using Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI). All non-specific nail
changes which were present in the psoriasis patients were noted as well. Apart from routine investigations,
blood calcium level and serum vitamin D levels were also sent for investigation.
Results: Majority of the participants were male with male: female ratio of 2.75:1. The mean age at of onset
of nail involvement was 42.87 17.19 years. About three-fourth of the patients were hypocalcaemic and
vitamin D deficient or insufficient. There was a moderate negative correlation between NAPSI and blood
calcium (mg/dL), and it was statistically significant (rho = -0.33, P = 0.011). There was a weak positive
correlation between NAPSI and S. Vitamin-D (ng/mL), and this correlation was not statistically significant
(rho = 0.11, P = 0.402). However, on multivariate regression analysis of NAPSI, significant association was
found between nail psoriasis severity index (NAPSI) with blood calcium level and serum vitamin D levels
(P=0.01).
Conclusion: Blood calcium and serum vitamin D levels were found low in patients of nail psoriasis. Hence,
oral vitamin D and calcium supplementation may aid in the earlier response to standard nail psoriasis
treatment and further studies are required to prove the therapeutic effect of calcium and vitamin D in nail
psoriasis.

Keywords: Calcium, Vitamin D, Nail, Psoriasis, NAPSI.

How to cite : Khare S , Trivedi T, Correlation between Vitamin-D and Calcium levels with severity of nail involvement in psoriasis: An observational study from Northern India. Panacea J Med Sci 2020;10(2):162-166

Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and Panacea J Med Sci. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (creativecommons.org)