Vitamin D deficiency and its association with iron deficiency in African children

Vitamin D regulates the master iron hormone hepcidin, and iron in turn alters vitamin D me-tabolism. Although vitamin D and iron deficiency are highly prevalent globally little is known about their interactions in Africa. To evaluate associations between vitamin D and iron status we measured markers of iron status, inflammation, malaria parasitemia and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations in 4509 children aged 0.3 months to 8 years living in Kenya, Uganda, Burkina Faso, The Gambia and South Africa. Prevalence of iron deficiency was 35.1%, and preva-lence of vitamin D deficiency was 0.6% and 7.8% as defined by 25(OH)D concentrations of 75 nmol/L. 25(OH)D concentrations variably influenced individual markers of iron status. Inflammation interacted with 25(OH)D concentrations to predict ferritin levels. The link between vitamin D and iron status should be considered in strategies to manage these nutrient deficiencies in African children