Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration and Metabolic Syndrome Among Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese Individuals

OBJECTIVE—To evaluate the association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and metabolic syndrome in the Chinese population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Plasma 25(OH)D was measured in a cross-sectional sample of 1,443 men and 1,819 women aged 50–70 years from Beijing and Shanghai. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the updated National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria for Asian Americans. Fasting plasma glucose, insulin, lipid profile, A1C, and inflammatory markers were measured. RESULTS—The geometric mean of plasma 25(OH)D was 40.4 nmol/l, and percentages of vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)D <50 nmol/l] and insufficiency [50 ≤ 25(OH)D <75 nmol/l] were 69.2 and 24.4%, respectively. Compared with the highest 25(OH)D quintile (≥57.7 nmol/l), the odds ratio for metabolic syndrome in the lowest quintile (≤28.7 nmol/l) was 1.52 (95% CI 1.17–1.98, $P_{trend} = 0.0002$) after multiple adjustment. Significant inverse associations also existed between 25(OH)D and individual metabolic syndrome components plus A1C. Moreover, we observed significant inverse associations of 25(OH)D with fasting insulin and the insulin resistance index (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance [HOMA-IR]) in overweight and obese individuals (BMI ≥24 kg/m2) but not in their normal-weight counterparts (test for interaction: $P = 0.0363$ and $0.0187$ for insulin and HOMA-IR, respectively). CONCLUSIONS—Vitamin D deficiency is common in the middle-aged and elderly Chinese population, and a low 25(OH)D level is significantly associated with an increased risk of having metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. Prospective studies and randomized clinical trials are warranted to determine the role of 25(OH)D in the development of metabolic syndrome and related metabolic diseases

A sonographic spectrum of psoriatic arthritis: “the five targets”

Ultrasound is a rapidly evolving technique that is gaining an increasing success in the assessment of psoriatic arthritis. Most of the studies have been aimed at investigating its ability in the assessment of joints, tendons, and entheses in psoriatic arthritis patients. Less attention has been paid to demonstrate the potential of ultrasound in the evaluation of skin and nail. The aim of this pictorial essay was to show the main high-frequency grayscale and power Doppler ultrasound findings in patients with psoriatic arthritis at joint, tendon, enthesis, skin, and nail level

Circulating 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Risk of Endometrial Cancer: Cohort Consortium Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers

A nested case-control study, including 830 cases and 992 controls from 7 cohorts, was conducted to evaluate the association of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), the best indicator of vitamin D status, with risk of endometrial cancer. Matching factors included age at blood donation, date of blood donation, and race. Conditional logistic regression was used in the main analysis. The median concentration of 25(OH)D was slightly lower in cases (49.4 nmol/L) than in controls (50.8 nmol/L) (P = 0.08). However, there was no association between 25(OH)D concentration and disease risk, after adjustment for body mass index. Compared with the 50–<75 nmol/L 25(OH)D category, the body mass index-adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were 1.08 (95% confidence interval: 0.73, 1.57) for the <25 nmol/L category and 0.90 (95% confidence interval: 0.51, 1.58) for the ≥100 nmol/L category (Ptrend = 0.99). Similarly null results were observed after further adjustment for other known risk factors and in stratified analyses. Although an effect of circulating 25(OH)D at high concentrations cannot be ruled out (the highest category of 25(OH)D was ≥100 nmol/L, and for stratified analyses, ≥75 nmol/L), these results do not support a protective role of vitamin D against endometrial cancer

Correlates of Circulating 25-Hydroxyvitamin D: Cohort Consortium Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers

Low vitamin D status is common globally and is associated with multiple disease outcomes. Understanding the correlates of vitamin D status will help guide clinical practice, research, and interpretation of studies. Correlates of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations measured in a single laboratory were examined in 4,723 cancer-free men and women from 10 cohorts participating in the Cohort Consortium Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers, which covers a worldwide geographic area. Demographic and lifestyle characteristics were examined in relation to 25(OH)D using stepwise linear regression and polytomous logistic regression. The prevalence of 25(OH)D concentrations less than 25 nmol/L ranged from 3% to 36% across cohorts, and the prevalence of 25(OH)D concentrations less than 50 nmol/L ranged from 29% to 82%. Seasonal differences in circulating 25(OH)D were most marked among whites from northern latitudes. Statistically significant positive correlates of 25(OH)D included male sex, summer blood draw, vigorous physical activity, vitamin D intake, fish intake, multivitamin use, and calcium supplement use. Significant inverse correlates were body mass index, winter and spring blood draw, history of diabetes, sedentary behavior, smoking, and black race/ethnicity. Correlates varied somewhat within season, race/ethnicity, and sex. These findings help identify persons at risk for low vitamin D status for both clinical and research purposes

Vitamin d status predicts 30 day mortality in hospitalised cats

Vitamin D insufficiency, defined as low serum concentrations of the major circulating form of vitamin D, 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), has been associated with the development of numerous infectious, inflammatory, and neoplastic disorders in humans. In addition, vitamin D insufficiency has been found to be predictive of mortality for many disorders. However, interpretation of human studies is difficult since vitamin D status is influenced by many factors, including diet, season, latitude, and exposure to UV radiation. In contrast, domesticated cats do not produce vitamin D cutaneously, and most cats are fed a commercial diet containing a relatively standard amount of vitamin D. Consequently, domesticated cats are an attractive model system in which to examine the relationship between serum 25(OH)D and health outcomes. The hypothesis of this study was that vitamin D status would predict short term, all-cause mortality in domesticated cats. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D, together with a wide range of other clinical, hematological, and biochemical parameters, were measured in 99 consecutively hospitalised cats. Cats which died within 30 days of initial assessment had significantly lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations than cats which survived. In a linear regression model including 12 clinical variables, serum 25(OH)D concentration in the lower tertile was significantly predictive of mortality. The odds ratio of mortality within 30 days was 8.27 (95% confidence interval 2.54-31.52) for cats with a serum 25(OH)D concentration in the lower tertile. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that low serum 25(OH)D concentration status is an independent predictor of short term mortality in cats