Vitamin D and hematinic deficiencies in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) represents a dysfunction in focal inflammatory processes. With the emerging anti-inflammatory roles of vitamin D (VD), we wanted to investigate the association between the onset and severity of RAS and serum VD level.

Fifty-two RAS cases and sex and age-matched controls were screened for serum iron, B₁₂, folic acid, VD and red cell indices. Variables were compared using independent samples t test and chi square. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the association between the severity of RAS and various hematinic deficiencies.

VD was deficient in 53% of the study population with no statistically significant difference between the RAS patients and healthy controls (53.6 versus 51.5 nmol/l, respectively). In comparison with controls, RAS patients had lower means of iron (81.0 versus 89.3 μg/dl), vitamin B₁₂ (368.5 versus 412.7 pg ml) and most of the red cell indices; however, these differences were not statistically significant. No correlations were seen between RAS severity assessed by ulcer diameter, number of ulcers and their frequency and hematinic deficiencies. However, logistic regression showed a significant association between the number of ulcers (single or multiple) and VD deficiency (OR 4.978; 95% CI 1.204–20.576; p value = 0.027), adjusted for age, sex and other hematinics.

VD deficiency appears to have a role in aggravating RAS ulcerative episodes, but not their onset.

Multiple aphthous ulcers might represent a subcategory of RAS lesions in which VD deficiency plays a role in aggravating the oral ulcerative condition.