Objective:To explore the correlation of vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression with autophagic flow injury of small intestinal epithelial cells in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) .Methods:The small intestinal mucosa from 41 patients with IBD and 13 normal control subjects was collected, which were set as IBD group and normal control group respectively. The expressions of VDR and autophagic flow - associated proteins LC3 and p62 of small intestinal epithelial cells were detected by immunohistochemistry. The correlations between VDR expression and LC3 or p62 were analyzed by Spearman method. Results:Compared with normal control group, the expression of VDR decreased obviously in IBD group, while the expressions of LC3 and p62 increased significantly (all P<0.0001) , which indicated the injured autophagic flow. The expression of VDR was negatively correlated with expression of LC3 ( r=-0.59, P<0.01) and p62 ( r=-0.62, P<0.01) . Conclusion:The lower expression of VDR may be correlated with the autophagic flow injury in IBD patients.