Table 1.

Studies about vitamin D supplementation in patients with SLE

Supplement	Study group	Effect	Side effect	References
100,000 IU of cholecalciferol per week for 4 weeks, followed by 100,000 IU of cholecalciferol per month for 6 months	20 SLE patients with hypovitaminosis D	Vitamin D was induced: a preferential increase of naïve CD4+ T cells, an increase of regulatory T cells a decrease of effector Th1 and Th17 cells a decrease of memory B cells and anti-DNA antibodies	Vitamin D was well tolerated	[86]
50,000 units of vitamin D-2 weekly plus 200 units of calcium/vitamin D-3 twice daily	1006 SLE patients with low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D; < 40 ng/mL)	A 20-ng/mL increase in the 25(OH)D level was found that was associated with: A 21% decrease in the odds of having a high disease activity score and A 15% decrease in the odds of having clinically important proteinuria	Vitamin D was well tolerated	[62]
Oral cholecalciferol 2000 IU/day for 12 months	Patients with SLE and determined alterations in inflammatory and hemostatic markers and disease activity	At 12 months of therapy, there was a significant improvement in levels of inflammatory and hemostatic markers as well as disease activity in the treatment group	Vitamin D was well tolerated	[87]
Oral vitamin D3 for a median period of 24 months	Sixty patients with SLE	Inverse significant correlations between 25(OH)D levels and the VAS and between changes in 25(OH)D levels and changes in the VAS in patients with baseline 25(OH)D levels < 30 ng/mL were found	Vitamin D was well tolerated	[52]
Vitamin D supplementation for 6 months	SLE patients	The FoxP3+/IL-17A ratio in SLE patients after 6 months of vitamin D supplementation was higher than that in the baseline	Vitamin D was well tolerated	[88]