Conditions: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Keywords: SLE Vitamin D3 Vitamin D deficiency IFN alpha expression
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 7
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of 18 weeks of high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation compared with standard-dose vitamin D3 supplementation on immune function, glucose homeostasis, and bone metabolism in children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D \[25(OH)D\] levels ≤20 ng/mL.

Detailed description:
This is a multi-center, phase II, 18-week, two arm, unblinded randomized clinical trial.

Seventy-eight pediatric subjects with SLE and 25(OH)D levels ≤ 20 ng/mL will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either standard-dose (400 IU/day) or high-dose (6,000 IU/day) vitamin D3 for 18 weeks based upon weight at baseline. Subjects randomized to the high-dose vitamin D3 treatment arm will receive 6,000 IU per day from baseline until the subject's vitamin D levels reach ≥ 40 ng/mL at which point the vitamin D3 dose will be reduced to 4,000 IU per day. Subjects randomized to the high-dose treatment arm weighing \< 40 kg will receive supplementation five days per week and all other subjects will receive supplementation seven days a week.

In addition to the baseline, and weeks 6, 12, and 18 visits, subjects randomized to the high-dose treatment arm will return at Weeks 3 and 9 to assess for symptoms of vitamin D toxicity. If a subject in the high-dose arm is found to exhibit evidence of vitamin D toxicity at the week 12 visit, he/she will be asked to return to their clinical research site for an additional vitamin D toxicity assessment at week 15. Study personnel will record each subject's interval history, assess adverse events, disease activity, and collect samples for safety and mechanistic assessments.

Arms:
arm 1: 6000 IU of vitamin D3 by mouth daily until the subject's serum 25(OH) level is ≥ 40ng/mL at which point the supplementation dose is reduced to 4,000 IU/day. Note: Subjects weighing \<40 kilograms (kg) at study entry will receive their dose five days a week and all other subjects seven days a week. arm 2: 400 IU/day of vitamin D3 by mouth daily.

Interventions: intervention 1: Vitamin D3 6000 IU intervention 2: Vitamin D3 400 IU
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Subjects will receive 6,000 IU of vitamin D3 by mouth daily until the subject's serum 25(OH) level is ≥ 40ng/mL at which point the supplementation dose will be reduced to 4,000 IU/day. Note: Subjects weighing \<40 kilograms (kg) at study entry will receive their dose five days a week and all other subjects seven days a week. intervention 2: Subjects will receive 400 IU/day of vitamin D3 daily by mouth.

Protocol document: