▎WuXi AppTec Content Team Editor
Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that plays a vital role in bone and musculoskeletal health by increasing the absorption of calcium in the gut. The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is expressed in many non-skeletal cells, so vitamin D may have multiple roles, such as in immune responses, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.
There are many molecular mechanisms that support the development of diabetes, the role of vitamin D in glucose homeostasis, the conversion of inactive vitamin D into active metabolites by pancreatic beta cells, and the role of vitamin D in glucose homeostasis. A process necessary for insulin secretion. Vitamin D plays a role in insulin signal transduction, so, is vitamin D level related to the development of diabetes and prediabetes?
A recent study published in eClinicalMedicine, a subsidiary of The Lancet, found that vitamin D deficiency may be associated with a 50% increased risk of developing diabetes, with prediabetes associated with a 62% increased risk.
Screenshot source: eClinicalMedicine
In this prospective cohort study, researchers analyzed data from the first and third waves of the Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing (TILDA), with the first wave being baseline data , the third wave is the data after 4 years of follow-up. A total of 5272 participants were included, and then the researchers divided the blood sugar status of the participants into diabetes and prediabetes according to the criteria of the American Diabetes Association, specifically: the participants’ glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) ≥ 39 mmol/mol and
The researchers then divided vitamin D levels into three categories based on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines and American Society of Endocrinology guidelines:
Lack of:
Insufficient: 30~50 nmol/L, 50~
Sufficient: ≥75 nmol/L.
The researchers analyzed baseline data and found that 4612 (87.5%) participants had normoglycemia, 242 (4.6%) had prediabetes, and 418 (7.9%) had prediabetes diabetes. Neuglycemic subjects had the highest vitamin D concentration at 58 nmol/L compared with prediabetes (53.8 nmol/L) and diabetic subjects (49.8 nmol/L)(p
After 4 years, 2992 participants (78%) were normoglycemic, 499 (13%) had prediabetes, and 337 (9%) had diabetes. While 85% were normoglycemic at baseline and remained normoglycemic after 4 years, 12.8% became prediabetic after 4 years, and 1.7% became prediabetic after 4 years. of people develop diabetes.
Further analysis by the researchers found:
At baseline, vitamin D deficiency was associated with a 50% increased likelihood of developing diabetes (relative risk ratio [RRR]=1.5, 95% CI 1.03-2.18 , p=0.037).
After 4 years of follow-up:
Vitamin D deficiency may be associated with a 62% increased risk of prediabetes (RRR=1.62, 95% CI 1.12-2.35, p=0.011); p>
Vitamin D concentration compared to vitamin D concentration ≥75 nmol/L
.
From baseline to 4 years of follow-up, participants had a 32.5% chance of progressing from prediabetes to diabetes.
The paper concludes that people with lower vitamin D concentrations may have different risk profiles in terms of blood sugar status. The power of our study is limited due to the low incidence of diabetes, but the study also shows that vitamin D may be closely related to the development of prediabetes, so further research is needed. Optimizing vitamin D levels at the population level may significantly reduce the development of diabetes.