الفهرس 
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Abstract
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), the chronic remittent or progressive immune mediated gastrointestinal inflammatory disorders that usually had their onset during adolescence and young adulthood, recently became more prevalent among pediatric population that most pediatricians can encounter children with IBD in their general practice. This aroused attention towards better understanding of the disease nature and the possible factors influencing the course of the disease.
Recently, vitamin D has been extensively studied and its role in different body organs and biological processes has been illustrated. Vitamin D exerts its function via a nuclear receptor; vitamin D receptor (VDR) which is highly expressed in the intestine. Recent studies centers gut epithelial VDR as a key molecule in the control of mucosal inflammation and colitis development, suggesting that VDR status might be a key genetic factor influencing IBD development.
Our aim in the present study was to determine the vitamin D receptor expression in intestinal mucosa of children with IBD and to evaluate the correlation between VDR expression and the disease activity in these children.
To achieve this goal, the present study was carried out on 70 patients; 35 with confirmed diagnosis of IBD and 35 normal controls. Of those 35 IBD cases, 19 cases were previously diagnosed as IBD and were indicated for follow up colonoscopy due to relapsing symptoms, while 16 cases were chosen upon suggestive colonoscopic features and later confirmed by histopathological and/or radiological criteria.