Vitamin D3 deficiency increases sinus mucosa dendritic cells in pediatric chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.

ObjectiveDendritic cells are professional antigen presenting cells, capable of initiating Th1 or Th2 responses, and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of diseases, including sinusitis. Vitamin D3 is a steroid hormone that acts on dendritic cells in a manner similar to corticosteroids. Investigators examined whether children with allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS) or chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) were vitamin D3 deficient and the relationship of vitamin D3 deficiency to dendritic cell infiltrate in the sinus mucosa.SettingTertiary care university hospital.Study DesignRetrospective, controlled study using samples collected from pediatric patients seen from August 2009 to July 2011.Subjects and MethodsPlasma levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in children (≤18 years old) with AFRS, CRSwNP, or CRS without nasal polyposis (CRSsNP) and in controls undergoing surgery for adenotonsillar hypertrophy. Vitamin D3 levels were c...