Vitamin D levels and cow's milk protein allergy in infants
What it found
Infants with cow's milk protein allergy had vitamin D levels similar to healthy infants.
The authors say routine vitamin D testing at diagnosis is not useful.
What they found
Studies in people
Vitamin D levels similar
Infants with cow's milk protein allergy had average vitamin D levels of 33.85 ng/ml, and healthy infants had 30.70 ng/ml. The difference was not statistically significant.
Vitamin D categories
When vitamin D levels were grouped as deficient, insufficient or adequate, there was no significant difference between the allergy group and the control group.
Allergy types
Among the 56 infants with cow's milk protein allergy, 23 had IgE-mediated allergy and 33 had non-IgE-mediated allergy. Vitamin D levels did not differ significantly between these two subgroups.
Skin prick test
In the allergy group, there was a weak negative correlation between the size of the skin prick test reaction to milk and vitamin D levels, but it was not statistically significant.
Specific IgE
No significant correlation was found between vitamin D levels and milk-specific IgE or casein-specific IgE in the allergy group.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that no significant difference was found in vitamin D levels between infants with cow's milk protein allergy and healthy controls.
- They say their results do not support routine testing of vitamin D levels in infants with cow's milk protein allergy at their initial check-up.
How it was done
Food allergies are becoming more common, and some researchers have suggested that low vitamin D levels might be linked to food allergy. The authors wanted to see if vitamin D plays a role in cow's milk protein allergy.
They studied 56 infants under 2 years old with cow's milk protein allergy confirmed by an oral food challenge, and 55 healthy infants as controls. Vitamin D levels were measured in both groups at the start of the study.
What it can’t tell you
- This study looked at vitamin D levels at one point in time, so it cannot show whether low vitamin D causes cow's milk protein allergy or whether allergy affects vitamin D levels.
- The study included a relatively small number of infants, so it may not have detected small differences.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.
- Authors work at
- Health Sciences University, Turkey; Children's Health and Diseases Training and Research Hospital, Turkey; Baskent University, Turkey
The paper
- Title
- Is there an association between vitamin D levels and cow's milk protein allergy at infancy?
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Ercan N, Bostanci İB, Ozmen S, Tekindal MA (2019). Is there an association between vitamin D levels and cow's milk protein allergy at infancy?. Archivos argentinos de pediatria. doi:10.5546/aap.2019.eng.306Free full textPubMed 31560486DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error