The cross-sectional relationships of dietary and serum vitamin D with cardiometabolic risk factors: Metabolic components, subclinical atherosclerosis, and arterial stiffness

Abstract

Objective There has been increasing interest in non-skeletal interactions between vitamin D insufficiency, which is common, and cardiovascular event and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.

Methods To evaluate cross-sectional associations between dietary and serum vitamin D status and metabolic abnormalities and arterial changes among 1054 adults aged ≥40 y (404 men and 650 women) in a rural area of South Korea. Study subjects were divided into three groups according to dietary vitamin D intake (tertiles) measured by food frequency questionnaire and serum 25(OH)D levels (≤20, 21–29, and ≥30 ng/mL). Metabolic components (blood pressure, lipid profiles, and glycemic index) and arterial changes (brachial ankle pulse wave velocity [baPWV] and carotid artery intima-media wall thickness [cIMT]) were measured.

Results Dietary vitamin D was inversely associated with diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and baPWV among men, but the association disappeared after multinutrient supplement users were excluded. Among women, there was an inverse association between dietary vitamin D and triacylglycerol (TG) levels. However, serum 25(OH)D showed a significant positive relationship with HDL cholesterol in both men and women, while a positive linear trend or nonlinear trend with serum 25(OH)D levels was shown in TG levels among men and in systolic blood pressure (SBP), DBP, total cholesterol, and baPWV among women. The positive relationship between serum 25(OH)D with baPWV disappeared after adjustment for blood pressure.

Conclusions Serum 25(OH)D may be favorably related to HDL cholesterol. However, serum 25(OH)D may not favorably related to subclinical atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness measured by cIMT and baPWV. The positive relationship between 25(OH)D and baPWV is likely to be mediated by blood pressure.