25OH-Vitamin D3 Levels in Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome-Unaltered in Young and not Correlated to Carotid IMT in All Ages

Contradictory results exist for levels of vitamin D measured in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD), obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). To clarify this, we investigated 527 participants of the STY-JOBS/EDECTA cohort (NCT00482924), with ages between 10 and 65 years. A cross-sectional analysis of anthropometry, carotid intima media thickness (IMT), and laboratory measurements for 25OH-Vitamin D3 (vitD), glucose metabolism, ultra-sensitive C-reactive protein (US-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), lipids, liver-, renal-parameters, and kynurenine to tryptophan ratio were made for a selection of persons who were either obese or of normal weight. The homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA) was also measured. As compared to the normal weight controls, significantly decreased blood levels of vitD were found in overweight/obese adults, which were not observed in the juveniles. Nevertheless, both overweight/obese juveniles and adults had significantly increased US-CRP, IL-6, HOMA, triglyceride, and LDL-cholesterol levels, and significantly decreased HDL-cholesterol levels. Juveniles with MetS displayed unchanged levels of vitD as compared to overweight/obese juveniles without MetS. Although IMT was significantly increased in both juvenile and adult overweight/obese subjects, vitD and IMT levels were not correlated. Assuming a minimum threshold of 20 ng/ml for the establishment of low or normal vitD levels, no significant alteration in IMT, metabolic, and inflammatory markers was observed in juveniles with a low vitD-status. In conclusion, although metabolic and inflammatory symptoms of obesity are displayed in juveniles, their vitD levels are unaffected. This, together with the complete lack of association with carotid IMT in both juveniles and adults, argues against a causative role of vitD in obesity-associated vascular pathology.