Abstract
The role of vitamin D on pulmonary function is unclear and is mostly studied in patients, smokers and elderly people. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration and pulmonary function in young adults. Cross-sectional analysis of 499 individuals that were evaluated at 21 years of age as part of the population-based cohort Epidemiological Health Investigation of Teenagers in Porto (EPITeen). Serum 25(OH)D was categorized according to the Institute of Medicine. Pulmonary function was evaluated using spirometry. Linear regression models were used to estimate the regression coefficients (β) and its 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), and were adjusted for confounders. Education, smoking, body mass index, and season of evaluation were determinants of serum 25(OH)D concentration. Prevalence of serum 25(OH)D concentration <50 nmol/L was 48.9%. A decrease in all pulmonary function parameters, with the decrease of serum 25(OH)D, was observed. The higher effect was found for peak expiratory flow (PEF). Having as reference participants with serum 25(OH)D concentration ≥50 nmol/L, PEF was significantly lower for those with a concentration of 30 to <50 nmol/L (β= −0.576; 95% CI: −0.943, −0.210), and for those with a concentration of <30 nmol/L (β= −0.650; 95% CI: −1.155, −0.146). Although only PEF attained statistical significance, the consistent results with the other parameters support the role of serum 25(OH)D to promote better pulmonary function in young adults.
Highlights
IntroductionThe ubiquitous presence of vitamin D-receptor (VDR) in human tissues contributes to support the role of calcitriol across several tissues in the organism [1,2]
Calcitriol is the metabolite responsible for the biological actions of vitamin D, described as genomic, mediated via the vitamin D-receptor (VDR) transcriptional effects in the nuclei of target cells, and non-genomic, mediated via the rapid VDR-induced signal transduction pathways on the cell membrane and/or cytoplasm [1,2,3,4].The ubiquitous presence of VDR in human tissues contributes to support the role of calcitriol across several tissues in the organism [1,2]
The pathways in which vitamin D acts on the pulmonary function could be related with its anti-inflammatory effects in the airway, both modulating innate and adaptive immunity, and with its capacity to regulate airway remodeling by the modulation of fibroblasts, inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases, and inhibiting growth of airway smooth muscle cells [5,6]
Summary
The ubiquitous presence of VDR in human tissues contributes to support the role of calcitriol across several tissues in the organism [1,2]. These actions include the suppression of cell growth, regulation. There are studies which observed a positive association between serum 25(OH)D concentration and pulmonary function parameters in individuals from the general population, namely children [7], adolescents [8], adults [9,10,11,12], and elderly men [13]. Some data supports that the role of vitamin D could be related with other conditions that influence the pulmonary function, such as tobacco [15,16] or allergic diseases [17,18,19]
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