Serum vitamin D concentrations are inversely related to prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Qatari women

Abstract

Hypovitaminosis D has reached epidemic proportions in Qatar. Vitamin D is linked to several cardiometabolic diseases such as metabolic syndrome (MetSyn), diabetes, and atherosclerosis. It is not known if vitamin D status is linked to cardiometabolic risk factors in Qatari women. Therefore, a relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitmain D [25(OH)D] concentrations and MetSyn was investigated in Qatari women using the Qatar Biobank database. Study sample consisted of 700 women, aged 20-80 years old. A multivariate-adjusted logistic regression was used to determine relation between serum 25(OH)D and MetSyn prevalence. Multivariate linear regression was performed to determine the association between serum 25(OH)D and markers of MetSyn. Prevalences of MetSyn in the first (≈32%), second (≈27%), and third (≈28%) serum 25(OH)D quartiles were significantly higher compared to fourth serum 25(OH)D quartile (≈17.5%) (p < .035). The likelihood of having MetSyn was significantly higher in the first serum 25(OH)D quartile (OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.06, 3.49) compared to the fourth serum 25(OH)D quartile (p < .001) in multivariate-adjusted analysis. No relationship was observed between serum 25(OH)D and waist circumference, blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C), blood glucose, HDL-cholesterol, and serum triglycerides. This study showed an inverse relationship between prevalence of MetSyn and serum 25(OH)D in Qatari women. Given the widespread prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Qatar, consideration should be given to vitamin D fortification of some selected staple foods and through targeted supplementation of vitamin D in those who are at risk for cardiometabolic diseases.

Serum vitamin D levels in relation to metabolic syndrome: A systematic review and dose–response meta‐analysis of epidemiologic studies

“…The characteristics of 43 included studies in the systematic review are presented in Tables 1 and 2. These researches have totally investigated 309,206 participants and were published between 2005 and 2020 20–23,25,26,31,36,37,42,44–76 . Most of these reports had cross‐sectional design ( n = 38) (including 298,187 individuals), except four cohort studies 22,66,67,70 and one nested case–control 69 with a total of 11,019 participants.…”

“…Because all included cross‐sectional studies used random sampling method, their samples were representative of whole population. Among eligible studies, seven investigations were conducted in China, 45,46,53,59,62,68,73 six in Korea, 21,25,26,31,51,72 five in the United States, 36,37,42,65,76 three in Australia 44,58,70 and Taiwan, 52,54,61 two in Canada, 22,66 England, 60,75 India, 55,71 Iran, 50,69 and Spain, 67,74 and others were performed in Arizona, 64 Finland, 49 Germany, 63 Japan, 20 Portugal, 57 the Netherlands, 23 Qatar, 48 South Africa, 56 and Thailand 47 . Twenty‐three of them were reported from Asian countries, and other reports were from non‐Asian regions.…”

“…In addition, in the case of cross‐sectional studies, only those that used random sampling method and included representative populations were considered eligible for the analysis. Finally, 43 studies were eligible for the systematic review, 20–23,25,26,31,36,37,42,44–76 as shown in Figure 1. All processes were separately conducted by three investigators (FS, ZH, and FM) and were supervised by the principal researcher (PS).…”

Validation of Vitamin D-Specific Food Frequency Questionnaire against Food Records for Qatari Women

“…Although vitamin D is synthesized endogenously in the skin when exposed to Sun's UV-B light, the amount of vitamin D that is synthesized in this process is highly variable and affected by several factors, such as latitude, time of the day, skin tone, amount of clothing worn, and use of sunblock lotions [1][2][3]. Interest in vitamin D has grown in recent times because hypovitaminosis D has been found to be related to non-calcemic ailments, such as metabolic syndrome [4,5] obesity [6], diabetes mellitus [7], cancer [8,9], cardiovascular diseases [10], and depression [11]. However, the cause and effect relationship between vitamin D and chronic diseases is still under investigation.…”

“…Vitamin D insufficiency has been a worldwide health problem [12]. Approximately 90% of the population in Qatar suffers from vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency [5]. The dietary sources of vitamin D are limited.…”