Plasma Vitamin D and Biomarkers of Cardiometabolic Disease Risk in Adult Canadians, 2007–2009

INTRODUCTION: Vitamin D may modulate cardiometabolic disease risk, although the relationship has not been investigated in the general Canadian population. Understanding this relationship may inform public health strategies to curb the incidence of cardiometabolic disease in Canada and elsewhere. The objectives of this study were to examine the association between vitamin D and traditional and novel biomarkers of cardiometabolic disease and to describe the extent of the month-to-month fluctuations of vitamin D in the Canadian population. METHODS: We examined the association between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and a range of cardiometabolic risk biomarkers in participants (n = 1,928; age range, 16–79 years) from the Canadian Health Measures Survey. We conducted linear regressions analyses (adjusted for sex, waist circumference, physical activity, hormone use, and season) to assess the relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and biomarkers of dysglycemia, dyslipidemia, and inflammation in the study population. We repeated analyses stratified by sex, and we evaluated monthly fluctuations in 25-hydroxyvitamin D in men and women. RESULTS: We observed wide month-to-month variations in 25-hydroxyvitamin D; fluctuations were more pronounced in men. Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D was inversely associated with insulin, insulin resistance, triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and the ratio of total to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol but not with fasting glucose, apolipoprotein A1, apolipoprotein B, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, or homocysteine. This pattern varied between men and women. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D may modulate various metabolic processes and may influence cardiometabolic disease risk in Canadians. These findings may have public health implications when recommending vitamin D for the prevention of cardiometabolic disease and related conditions.