High Vitamin D Levels Linked to Lower Cholesterol

Vitamin D is known to be essential for bone metabolism, and low serum 25(OH)D levels increase the risk of rickets, osteomalacia, and osteopenia. The associations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) with plasma lipids remain controversial in children.

Vitamin D may also improve plasma lipid levels and have beneficial impact on other risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. However, evidence on these other health effects of vitamin D is still scarce and partially conflicting, and therefore not a sufficient basis for giving recommendations.

Scientists collaborating with the University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio, Finland) carried out a cross-sectional study on a population sample of 419 prepubertal Caucasian children aged 6 to 8 years. The main outcome measures were 25(OH)D, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), and triglycerides levels.

The team found that children whose serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels exceeded 80 nmol/L had lower plasma total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels than children whose serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were below 50 nmol/L, which is often regarded as a threshold value for vitamin D sufficiency. 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the major circulating form of vitamin D. Associations of 25(OH)D with TC, LDLC, and HDLC remained after adjustment for adiposity, physical activity, sedentary behavior, diet, daylight time, and parental education.

The new findings provide support for the importance of following recommendations for vitamin D intake, which vary from country to country. The most important dietary sources of vitamin D are vitamin D fortified products such as dairy products and spreads, and fish. In addition to the dietary intake, vitamin D supplement use is also recommended for the general population in several countries. The recommended use of vitamin D supplements varies a lot among these countries (mostly 200-2,000 IU/day) depending on age group and other factors.

The authors concluded that 25(OH)D was independently and inversely associated with TC, LDLC, and HDLC. CYP2R1 rs12794714, CYP2R1 rs10741657, and DBP rs2282679 were associated with 25(OH)D. CYP2R1 rs12794714 was associated with TC and LDLC and C10orf88 rs6599638 with HDLC independent of 25(OH)D. None of the gene variants modified the associations of 25(OH)D with lipids. The study was published on May 9, 2018, in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

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University of Eastern Finland