Vitamin D deficiency closely linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease: Study

Australia: According to a recent study by Ang Zhou and colleagues, vitamin D insufficiency might raise the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The burden of CVD may be decreased if poor vitamin D status was corrected at the population level. The data of this study were published in European Heart Journal on 5th December, 2021.

A lack of vitamin D is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Although the majority of extant Mendelian randomization (MR) studies found no influence of vitamin D on CVD risk, a non-linear effect cannot be ruled out. The purpose of this study was to use a non-linear MR design to evaluate the relationship between blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration and CVD risk.

For the study, the non-linear MR analysis was performed on 44 519 CVD patients and 251 269 controls from the UK Biobank. Secondary outcomes were blood pressure (BP) and cardiac-imaging-derived phenotypes. The concentration of 25(OH)D in the blood was measured using 35 verified genome-wide significant variations. The researchers also calculated the possible reduction in CVD incidence due to vitamin D deficiency treatment.

The key findings were:

1. There was an L-shaped relationship between genetically predicted serum 25(OH)D and CVD risk, with CVD risk decreasing dramatically with higher concentrations and levelling out around 50 nmol/L.

2. A similar relationship was seen for systolic and diastolic blood pressure. There was no indication of a connection with cardiac-imaging characteristics.

3. Correction of blood 25(OH)D levels below 50 nmol/L was anticipated to result in a 4.4 percent decrease in CVD incidence. 

4. The data clearly suggest the treatment of vitamin D insufficiency in afflicted patients, which is expected to benefit cardiovascular health among other downstream effects.

In conclusion, we present genetic evidence for an L-shaped connection of 25(OH)D with CVD risk using a large prospective cohort, with higher CVD risk mostly limited to people with low vitamin D status. While boosting vitamin D status among persons with the lowest levels is expected to have the greatest impact, a population-wide strategy to eradicating vitamin D insufficiency might lessen the burden of CVDs.

Reference:

Zhou, A., Selvanayagam, J. B., & Hyppönen, E. (2021). Non-linear Mendelian randomization analyses support a role for vitamin D deficiency in cardiovascular disease risk. In European Heart Journal. Oxford University Press (OUP). https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehab809