Implications of Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D on the Prevalence of Neoplastic Polyps: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D is believed to help in the suppression of malignant cells. Epidemiologic studies suggest that there is an association between vitamin D deficiency and an increased risk of colorectal cancer. The primary aim of this study is to determine if the prevalence of neoplastic polyps is inversely related to serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels 25(OH)D. METHODS: A prevalence study conducted between April 2009 and October 2009 evaluated 651 patients undergoing colonoscopy in order to determine if an association existed between low 25(OH)D levels and the prevalence of neoplastic colon polyps. Multivariate logistic and linear regression analyses were used to establish an association between 25(OH)D levels and histology of colon polyp with gender, race, age and BMI. RESULTS: The presence of tubular adenoma, villous adenoma, tubulo-villous adenoma, or malignancies did not differ (P = 0.5) among the stratified 25(OH)D groups (10 ng, 10.1 - 30 ng, > 30 ng). In addition, despite having more African-Americans than Caucasians in the lowest 25(OH)D category (22.7% versus 7.7%), the presence of neoplastic polyps did not differ significantly (P = 0.8) between the categorized racial groups (Caucasian and African-Americans). CONCLUSIONS: Low plasma 25(OH)D levels are not associated with an increased prevalence of neoplastic polyps.