Association of Vitamin D Deficiency with High Cholesterol Levels

Background

Recent studies have demonstrated a significant relationship between vitamin D and cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is important in the synthesis and metabolism of vitamin D. Additionally, foods rich in vitamin D also contain high cholesterol supplements. Given that sources of vitamin D and cholesterol are different, we hypothesized that there is a potential mean bias in true relationship between an individual’s vitamin D and cholesterol levels. The study therefore aimed to examine the relationship of serum cholesterol and vitamin D levels.

Methods

We utilized NHANES 2001-2006 data (n=30,954). The outcome was vitamin D deficiency defined as individuals with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level12 ng/ml were classified as normal . Significant differences in cholesterol levels between the two groups were determined using Chi-Square contingency test. Generalized linear models were conducted to assess the association of vitamin D deficiency with cholesterol levels adjusting for age, sex, physical activity (proxy measure for sunlight exposure) and other serum lipid levels.

Results

Vitamin D deficiency was significantly lower in males(5.2%) than females(7.8%)(P

Conclusion

Vitamin D deficiency was associated with high LDL and triglyceride levels. Study findings help establish the importance of distinguishing vitamin D and cholesterol levels as separate entities while making inferences about their relationship with chronic diseases.