Venus Vatankhah - Faculty of Medicine, Shahrekord University of Medical Science, Shahrekord, Iran,
Masoud Lotfizadeh - Assistant Professor, Department of Health Education, Faculty of Health, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
Hamidreza Iranpoor - M.S.c of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced technologies in Medicine, Golestan Universityof Medical Sciences, Golestan, Iran
Fatemeh Jafari - Faculty of Medicine, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran

Background: Allergic rhinitis is one of the most prevalent disease worldwide and several studies have been done to investigate its risk factors. Some studies have shown that there is an association between severity of allergic rhinitis and serum level of 25 OH vitamin D, but no consensus has been yet achieved. Aims: Given the high prevalence of allergic rhinitis and high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in our population, this study aimed to determine the mean serum level of vitamin D in patients with allergic rhinitis and control group.Methods: This is a case-control study conducted in Imam Ali Clinic in Shahrekord during 2014-2015. 54 patients with allergic rhinitis and 54 healthy persons were randomly selected and their serum levels of 25 OH vitamin D were measured. Also, demographic data and thedata on severity of allergic rhinitis were collected by a questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS.Results: The mean serum level of 25 OH vitamin D in case and control groups were 29.62±18.44 nmol and 62.18±18.53 nmol, respectively, with a statistically difference between the two groups (p=0.001). Also, 4 (7.4%) patients in case group were vitamin D deficient but no one in control group was vitamin D deficient, with a statistically difference between the two groups(P=0.003). Conclusion: there is a relationship between serum level of vitamin D and suffering from allergic rhinitis. Special attention should be paid to the geographic characteristics of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province. Certain health programs should be implemented to cureand prevent vitamin D deficiency in allergic rhinitis patients.

allergic rhinitis; allergy; vitamin D; 25-hydroxyvitamin D; allergen