Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Oct 4:13:361-367.
doi: 10.2147/VHRM.S142721. eCollection 2017.

Evaluation of vitamin D levels in relation to coronary CT angiographic findings in an Iranian population

Maryam Moradi  1 , Ali Foroutanfar  1
Affiliations

Evaluation of vitamin D levels in relation to coronary CT angiographic findings in an Iranian population

Maryam Moradi et al. Vasc Health Risk Manag. .

Abstract

Background: Vitamin D deficiency, as a predisposing factor for coronary artery disease (CAD), is a subject of increasing interest. However, its role as a risk factor has not been proven. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum vitamin D levels and CAD.

Materials and methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 180 patients who were candidates for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) were selected. Serum levels of vitamin D were measured and compared with the results of CCTA (including calcium score, and presence and severity of coronary artery involvement due to atherosclerotic plaques).

Results: The mean age of the participants was 60.5±10.6 years and the mean serum vitamin D level was 26.2±15.9 ng/dL (range, 3.5-83.2 ng/dL). Overall, 6.1% of the participants (n=11) had vitamin D deficiency, 56.1% (n=101) had insufficient levels of vitamin D, and 37.8% (n=68) had sufficient levels of vitamin D. The mean serum vitamin D level was significantly lower in patients with severe CAD (P=0.004). The serum vitamin D level in the "positive for CAD" group was 20.98 ng/mL, significantly lower than the level in the "negative for CAD" group (30.47 ng/mL; P<0.001). The mean calcium score among participants was 533.5±87.9. Based on the Spearman test, a significant negative correlation (-0.21) was detected between the serum vitamin D level and coronary artery calcium score (CACS) (P=0.005). Conversely, the mean CACS in the vitamin D deficient group was significantly higher than in the insufficient and sufficient vitamin D groups (P<0.001 for both comparisons).

Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency was associated with coronary artery calcification and severity of coronary artery stenosis in Iranian patients.

Keywords: angiography; atherosclerosis; coronary artery disease; multidetector computed tomography; vitamin D.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Spearman correlation between vitamin D levels in serum and the coronary artery calcium score.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean calcium score in different groups based on vitamin D level.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean vitamin D levels in different coronary artery disease groups.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Median 25th and 75th percentile of vitamin D in different coronary artery disease groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Holick MF. The role of vitamin D for bone health and fracture prevention [review] Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2006;4(3):96–102. - PubMed
    1. Otsuka F, Sakakura K, Yahagi K, Joner M, Virmani R. Has our understanding of calcification in human coronary atherosclerosis progressed? Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2014;34(4):724–736. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Leszczynska A, O’Doherty A, Farrell E, et al. Differentiation of vascular stem cells contributes to ectopic calcification of atherosclerotic plaque. Stem Cells. 2016;34(4):913–923. - PubMed
    1. Pillar R, G Lopes MG, Rocha LA, et al. Severe hypovitaminosis D in chronic kidney disease: association with blood pressure and coronary artery calcification. Hypertens Res. 2013;36(5):428–432. - PubMed
    1. Shioi A. Mechanism of vascular calcification. Clin Calcium. 2004;14(1):133–139. Japanese. - PubMed

MeSH terms