Investigation of the relationship between vitamin D and peripheral inflammatory parameters in children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to investigate the effects of vitamin D and some nutritional factors such as vitamin B12, folate, homocysteine, and ferritin, which play a role in the pathogenesis of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), on inflammation, which is also claimed to play a role in the pathogenesis of ADHD. Materials and methods: 39 ADHD and 39 healthy controls were compared with similar age, gender and BMI. The severity of the disease was evaluated with the Turgay ADHD scale. Inflammatory and nutritional parameters were measured routinely. Results: In the patient group, Vitamin D was found to be significantly lower (p<0.001), while homocysteine was found to be significantly higher (p=0.003). CRP and MPV values among inflammatory parameters were found to be significantly higher (p<0.001 for both). No significant correlations were found between nutritional factors and inflammatory parameters (p>0.05 for all). Conclusion: It can be suggested that low levels of vitamin D and high levels of homocysteine, which is related to single carbon metabolism, may play a role in the pathogenesis of ADHD. High levels of some inflammatory values may also indicate the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of ADHD. No significant relationship was found between nutritional and inflammatory parameters. However, considering the limitations of the study, further research is needed on this subject.