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
. 2019 Nov/Dec;53(10):711-716.
doi: 10.1097/MCG.0000000000001124.

Association of Vitamin D and Parathyroid Hormone With Barrett's Esophagus

Joel H Rubenstein  1   2   3 , Daniel McConnell  4 , David G Beer  5 , Amitabh Chak  6 , Valbona Metko  2 , Gregory Clines  3   7
Affiliations

Association of Vitamin D and Parathyroid Hormone With Barrett's Esophagus

Joel H Rubenstein et al. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2019 Nov/Dec.

Abstract

Background: Esophageal adenocarcinoma has been inversely associated with exposure to ultraviolet radiation. This could be because of vitamin D deficiency or hyperparathyroidism promoting gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and Barrett's esophagus.

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the association between parathyroid hormone (PTH) and vitamin D deficiency with GERD symptoms, erosive esophagitis, and Barrett's esophagus.

Methods: We assayed banked serum for PTH and total 25-hydroxy vitamin D from a cross-sectional cohort. Logistic regression was performed to estimate the associations of vitamin D deficiency and hyperparathyroidism with GERD symptoms, erosive esophagitis, and Barrett's esophagus.

Results: Sera from 605 men were assayed, including 150 with GERD, 216 with erosive esophagitis, 145 with Barrett's esophagus, and 174 normal subjects. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found a strong inverse association between Barrett's esophagus and hyperparathyroidism (odds ratio=0.516; 95% confidence interval=0.265, 1.01), and a trend toward an inverse association with vitamin D deficiency. We found no association between vitamin D deficiency or hyperparathyroidism with GERD symptoms or erosive esophagitis.

Conclusions: Contrary to our hypothesis, we found an inverse association between serum PTH and Barrett's esophagus. Validation of the finding and the mechanism of that association deserves further study.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: None of the authors have potential conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Tran B, Lucas R, Kimlin M, Whiteman D, Neale R, Australian Cancer S. Association between ambient ultraviolet radiation and risk of esophageal cancer. Am J Gastroenterol 2012. December;107(12):1803–13. PubMed PMID: 23032986. English. - PubMed
    1. Kedar A, Nikitina Y, Henry OR, Abell KB, Vedanarayanan V, Griswold ME, et al. Gastric dysmotility and low serum vitamin D levels in patients with gastroparesis. Horm Metab Res 2013. January;45(1):47–53. PubMed PMID: 22956309. English. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Christensen MHE, Dankel SN, Nordbø Y, Varhaug JE, Almås B, Lien EA, et al. Primary Hyperparathyroidism Influences the Expression of Inflammatory and Metabolic Genes in Adipose Tissue. PLoS ONE 2011;6(6):e20481. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rubenstein JH, Morgenstern H, McConell D, Scheiman JM, Schoenfeld P, Appelman H, et al. Associations of Diabetes Mellitus, Insulin, Leptin, and Ghrelin with Gastroesophageal Reflux and Barrett’s Esophagus. Gastroenterology 2013;145(6):1237–44. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Quigley EM, Jacobson BC, Lenglinger J, Rubenstein JH, El-Serag H, Cicala M, et al. Barrett’s esophagus: clinical features, obesity, and imaging. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2011. September;1232:36–52. PubMed PMID: 21950806. English. - PubMed