After HSCT, 24 patients (36%) developed either acute
or chronic forms of GVHD (20 had acute GVHD, four had
chronic GVHD and eight had both acute and chronic GVHD),
and 33 patients (50%) received corticosteroids at an average
cumulative dose of 105.0 ± 63.5 mg/kg body weight (0.97 ± 0.42
mg/kg/day) of prednisone. There were no significant differences
in serum 25(OH)D levels between patients with or without
GVHD (20.2 ± 11.9 ng/mL vs. 20.5 ± 11.1 ng/mL, respectively),
between those receiving or not receiving corticosteroids (21.6
± 12.9 vs. 18.5 ± 13.0 ng/mL, respectively), or in the prevalence
of vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency pre-HSCT in patients
who developed GVHD. Median length of hospital stay was 36
days (range: 22 to 137 days; mean: 45.4 days), during which
all patients received a daily vitamin D dose of 400 to 800
IU in accordance with the medical protocol of preventive
vitamin supplementation. After discharge, 39 patients (59%)
received vitamin D supplements (as part of the multivitamin
supplementation scheme post HSCT) for an average of 140 ±
55 days; six patients (9%) received a daily dose of more than
1200 IU of vitamin D, and 33 (50%) received between 400 to
1200 IU of the vitamin per day. No correlation was found
between 25(OH)D levels and dietary intake or supplemental
use of the vitamin. The group receiving supplemental vitamin
D, however, showed an increase in 25(OH)D levels at 180 days
post HSCT, although this difference did not reach statistical
significance (21.4 ± 10.7 vs. 18.9 ± 12.4 ng/mL, respectively).