The Survey of Vitamin D and C-Reactive Protein Status after a Period of Lumbar Stabilization Exercises and Vitamin D Consumption in Women with Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain

Background and Aim: Low-grade systemic inflammation, sedentary lifestyle, and vitamin D deficiency are considered risk factors for developing non-specific low back pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of selective lumbar stabilization exercises with vitamin D intake on the level of hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in women with chronic non-specific low back pain. Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study with pretest–posttest design, 48 women with chronic low back pain were initially selected by available sampling method and then randomly divided into control, exercise, vitamin D and combined groups. Lumbar stabilization exercises were performed at different levels for 8 weeks. The vitamin D and combined groups received 50,000 IU vitamin D weekly. Data were analyzed using paired t-test, ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests with a significant level of less than 0.05.  Results: 25.64% and 74.26% of the subjects had insufficient levels of vitamin D (20-29 ng/ml) and vitamin D deficiency (less than 20 ng/ml), respectively. 8 weeks of lumbar stabilization exercises, vitamin D consumption, and the combined intervention decreased hs-CRP and increased 25-hydroxyvitamin D. In addition, the combined intervention had a stronger effect on lowering hs-CRP levels compared to the other two interventions. The effect of vitamin D intake and combined intervention on improving vitamin D status was greater compared to lumbar stabilization exercises. Conclusion: It seems that lumbar stabilization exercises, vitamin D intake, and combined interventions can improve low-grade systemic inflammation in people with low back pain and low vitamin D levels by lowering hs-CRP and positively regulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, but combined intervention is associated with greater effectiveness in reducing hs-CRP.