Atopic dermatitis is the most common inflammatory skin disease in the developed world and one of the most common chronic diseases overall. Possible triggers for atopic dermatitis are associated with the modern way of life, which is reflected, among other things, in the currently widespread deficiency of vitamin D. Vitamin D is involved in the etiology and pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis through its role in ensuring the proper functioning of the immune system and the skin barrier. The positive effects of vitamin D supplementation to improve symptoms of atopic dermatitis have been confirmed in numerous clinical studies. However, vitamin D supplementation has not yet become an established adjunctive therapy for patients with atopic dermatitis, largely due to difficult interpretation of methodologically heterogeneous clinical studies. Another contributing factor is the dependency of vitamin D physiological status on natural and social geographical factors. In this master’s thesis, we examined the hypothesis that the relationship between the vitamin’s D physiological status and the symptoms of atopic dermatitis depends on the geographical latitude, sunshine duration, and development level of the countries where clinical studies are conducted. For this purpose, we conducted a systematic literature review on the topic of vitamin D and atopic dermatitis, followed by a correlation analysis of selected variables. The data from a multicenter study with a large sample of included patients were also included in the correlation analysis. There was a correlation between vitamin D physiological status and development level. We only partially confirmed the correlation between vitamin D physiological status and sunshine duration, but we did not demonstrate the correlation between vitamin D physiological status and geographical latitude. Similarly, we did not demonstrate the confounding effect of the analyzed geographical factors on the relationship between vitamin D physiological status and symptoms of atopic dermatitis or on the change in the SCORAD index because of vitamin D intervention. The data analysis was limited by inconsistent methodologies of clinical studies, a small number of sample units and limited variability of data (especially a lack of vitamin D physiological status data within the reference range or above it). We observed a widespread vitamin D deficiency in the population of patients with atopic dermatitis. In our opinion, this indicates the need to periodically check vitamin D physiological status in this group of patients.
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