Serum Vitamin D Level in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease and Association with Sun Exposure: Experience from a Tertiary Care, Teaching Hospital in India

Abstract EN

Background.

Vitamin D, a fat-soluble vitamin, has various extraskeletal effects, and several human and animal studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency may be a contributory factor in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD).

However, such studies in the Indian subcontinent are either lacking or have shown conflicting results.

Methods.

This was a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 121 patients with CAD from a tertiary care center and their 80 age-matched healthy controls.

Serum vitamin D levels along with serum and urine chemistries were measured in both the groups.

The average duration of sun exposure/day and use of sunscreen were also considered in the study cohort using a questionnaire.

Serum vitamin D levels were categorized into deficient (<30 nmol/lit), insufficient (30–75 nmol/lit), and sufficient (>75 nmol/lit) groups.

Results.

Among the cases, 51.2% of the patients were vitamin D deficient and 44.6% patients had insufficient vitamin D levels, whereas among controls, 40% and 31% of the population had deficient and insufficient levels of vitamin D, respectively.

However, the mean value of the serum vitamin D level was not statistically different in the cases as compared to that of the controls (34.06 vs 40.19 nmol/lit) (P=0.08).

Corrected serum calcium (9.26 vs 9.59 mg%) (P≤0.0001) and serum albumin levels (4.21 vs 4.75 gm%) (P≤0.0001) were lower in the cases than those of the controls.

The average sun exposure/day was higher among the cases than that among the controls (2.93 vs 1.85 hours) (P=0.001).

Conclusion.

Vitamin D deficiency is widely prevalent in Indian population despite abundant sunshine, and the duration of sun exposure is not correlated with serum vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D deficiency is not associated with CAD.

However, serum calcium is deficient in CAD patients as compared to the controls.

Large-scale studies are required to explore the association further to evaluate the benefits of screening and correction of vitamin D deficiency in patients with CAD.