Vitamin D level in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: its relationship to disease course and bone mineral density.

Objective: To determine vitamin D levels in patients with SLE and evaluate their relationship to bone mineral density (BMD) and the disease course.

Methods: The study included 101 patients with SLE and 29 individuals in the control group. The study participants were tested for vitamin D level, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, osteocalcin (OC) and collagen type I C-terminal telopeptide (CTX), and the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was provided to assess BMD in the lumbar spine and the hip.