Plasma Vitamin D Levels are Lower among Ethnic Indians in Matched Pairs of Male Acute Ischaemic Stroke Patients of Indian and Chinese Ethnicity

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Introduction: Ethnic Indians have a high burden of vascular disease. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of vascular disease including ischaemic stroke. Vitamin D levels are lower among ethnic Indians compared to ethnic Chinese in healthy individuals. We compared the plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels between ethnic Indians and Chinese male ischaemic stroke patients. Methods: We prospectively recruited consecutive ethnic Indian acute ischaemic stroke male patients within seven days of symptom onset, who were admitted to the Singapore General Hospital. The subsequent ethnic Chinese acute ischaemic stroke male patient matched for age and diabetes status was recruited. Plasma 25(OH)D was measured using DiaSorin radioimmunoassay. Results: We studied 22 matched pairs of ethnic Indian and Chinese ischaemic stroke male patients. Mean plasma 25(OH)D level was lower among ethnic Indians (16.7 ± 6.1 μg/L) than ethnic Chinese patients (19.7 ± 4.4 μg/L) ( p=0.04). The mean difference was 2.9 ± 6.46 μg/L corresponding to 12.9 ± 33.1%. Conclusion: Ethnic Indian male ischaemic stroke patients had lower vitamin D levels compared to matched ethnic Chinese counterparts. Thus it is important to consider ethnicity in the understanding of stroke risk due to vitamin D deficiency.