ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN VITAMIN D AND MICROVASCULAR COMPLICATIONS IN MIDDLE-AGED AND ELDERLY DIABETIC PATIENTS

Objective: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR), and the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Chinese diabetic adults. Methods: A total of 4,767 diabetic participants were enrolled from seven communities in Shanghai, China, in 2018. Participants underwent several examinations, which included the measurement of anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, glucose, lipid profiles, 25(OH)D, and ACR. DR was detected based on high-quality fundus photographs and remotely read by ophthalmologists. Results: Compared with the first 25(OH)D quartile, participants in the fourth quartile had a lower prevalence of high ACR (odds ratio [OR], 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61 to 0.96) (P for trend <.01). No association was found between 25(OH)D levels and eGFR. For DR, the OR (95% CI) for DR ranging from 0 to 4 in ordinal logistic regression associated with 25(OH)D was 0.62 (0.47 to 0.82) for the fourth 25(OH)D quartile (P for trend <.01) compared with the first quartile. These associations were all fully adjusted for confounding factors. Conclusion: Lower serum 25(OH)D concentration is significantly associated with increased ACR and higher prevalence of DR in middle-aged and elderly diabetic adults. However, the possibility of a causal relationship between 25(OH)D deficiency and diabetic microvascular complications remains to be demonstrated.