Vitamin D levels and disease status in Texas patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: Previous studies have suggested a relationship between low serum levels of vitamin D and lupus. Vitamin D receptor ligands can mediate immunosuppressive effects and low levels of this hormone have been proposed as contributing to the immune activation in lupus and other autoimmune diseases. We sought to investigate the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in our patients with lupus.