Abstract
Background: Although hypovitaminosis D is prevalent among healthy adults in Asia and other regions, available data among Sri Lankans are not consistent with this finding. We studied vitamin D level among healthy community-dwelling women and examined its effects on parathyroid hormone (PTH) level and bone mineral status. Methods: Females of 20-40 years (n = 434) who were employed in southern Sri Lanka were recruited to the study. Bone mineral density and content (pBMD and pBMC) of the middle phalanx of the middle finger of the non-dominant hand were measured in all subjects and 5.0 ml of venous blood was collected from each subject after an overnight fast for biochemical assessment of serum vitamin D, parathyroid hormone and total alkaline phosphatase. Results: Mean (SD) pBMD of the women studied was 0.493 (0.060) g/cm2 and pBMC was 1.49 (0.28) g. Severe vitamin D deficiency (jects, whereas 19.1% subjects had moderate (12.5-25.0 nmol/L) and 15.7% had mild (25.1 -35.0 nmol/L) vitamin D deficiency. Serum vitamin D showed significant positive correlations with pBMD (r = 0.13, p = 0.008) and pBMC (r = 0.12, p = 0.01). In regression analysis, vitamin D showed a positive association with pBMD (regression coefficient 0.0003, SEM 0.0001, p = 0.007). Conclusions: Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is prevalent among healthy young and middle-aged women in this study group selected from southern Sri Lanka. The accompanying rise of PTH indicates the biological significance of low vitamin D level. The negative effects observed on bone mineral status suggest the clinical importance of this finding.
Highlights
Vitamin D has profound effects on the growth and skeletal development of children and it is a major determinant of adult bone health
Decreased serum phosphates due to increased renal excretion caused by secondary hyperparathyroidism and increased alkaline phosphatase are the other metabolic effects of Vitamin D deficiency [3]
When all the anthropometric measures were included in a regression model and weak associations were excluded in a step-wise fashion, height remained the strongest predictor of pBMD
Summary
Vitamin D has profound effects on the growth and skeletal development of children and it is a major determinant of adult bone health. Vitamin D deficiency lowers intestinal calcium absorption from 30% to 15% [3] This leads to an increased serum parathyroid hormone level, which is an important determinant of cortical bone remodeling in the elderly [1]. We studied vitamin D level among healthy community-dwelling women and examined its effects on parathyroid hormone (PTH) level and bone mineral status. Bone mineral density and content (pBMD and pBMC) of the middle phalanx of the middle finger of the non-dominant hand were measured in all subjects and 5.0 ml of venous blood was collected from each subject after an overnight fast for biochemical assessment of serum vitamin D, parathyroid hormone and total alkaline phosphatase. Conclusions: Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is prevalent among healthy young and middle-aged women in this study group selected from southern Sri Lanka. The accompanying rise of PTH indicates the biological significance of low vi-
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