The correlation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D with BMI and lipid profile: A retrospective cohort study of Syrian patients

BACKGROUND: This study aims to identify the prevalence of 25OHD deficiency in Syrian patients and investigate the relationship with obesity and lipid profile. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study consisted of 201 patients of age >10 years, who referred to Al Assad and Al Mouwasat University Hospitals, Damascus, Syria from Oct/2020 to Oct/2021. The data was analyzed by using linear regressions and produced a matrix of correlations with significant equations between study variables. RESULTS: Firstly, participants were divided depending on 25OHD levels, where 92.5% of patients had 25OHD <30 ng/mL. Inverse correlation between 25OHD and BMI (P ≤ 0.001) was observed, where severe 25OHD deficiency group had higher BMI (27.40 ± 7.22 kg/m(2)) and higher levels of Chol (211 ± 67.12 mg/dl) than in sufficiency group.Secondly, participants were divided depending on BMI. Higher BMI associated with lower levels of 25OHD. Moreover, we derived that every increase in 25OHD by 1 ng/mL results in decrease of BMI by 0.26 kg/m(2) (P ≤ 0.001) and results in decrease of Chol by 1.54 mg/dl (P ≤ 0.004). CONCLUSION: A high prevalence of 25OHD deficiency was observed in this sample of Syrian patients. There is an inverse correlation between 25OHD and BMI regardless of age and gender. Moreover, the equation, that derived between 25OHD and BMI, represents a beneficial and an inexpensive tool in clinical practice to minimize testing of 25OHD by predicting its deficiency based on BMI and supports the impact of 25OHD supplementation for reduce BMI.