Assessment of free vitamin D in the acute phase response (VDA)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Measuring the amount of unbound Vitamin D (free 250HD) before and after hip and knee replacement surgery.
IRAS ID
161932
Contact name
Lucy Evans
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Vitamin D is important for healthy bones, but many people have low vitamin D levels.
Nearly all of the vitamin D in our blood is carried by a binding protein, and it can only act on cells and tissues when it is released from this protein; this is called ‘free vitamin D’. Current tests measure total vitamin D, and not free vitamin D. We think that measuring free vitamin D may be better than total vitamin D, especially in situations where the binding protein may be abnormal.
Saliva contains vitamin D but no binding proteins, so we can use saliva to measure free vitamin D. We have just set up a saliva test, and we will compare how this test performs against the existing blood tests.
We will measure salivary vitamin D in 25 patients before and after having joint replacement operations because vitamin D and binding protein levels go down after surgery, and we would like to see if the level of free vitamin D remains unchanged.
If the new test performs well, it will give us a very useful tool for further studies of vitamin D and bone health in different groups of people, and could be made available to patients in clinic.
REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/2199
Date of REC Opinion
18 Dec 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion