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The association between low 25-hydroxyvitamin D and increased aortic stiffness

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 26, pages 650–655 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

There is accumulating evidence that vitamin D exerts important pathophysiological effects on cardiovascular system. Low vitamin D was associated with increased cardiovascular risk in several reports. We studied the association between vitamin D and arterial stiffness in a random sample of 560 subjects selected from general population. Arterial stiffness was measured as aortic pulse-wave velocity (PWV) using Sphygmocor device. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) was measured using commercial kits. We found a clear negative trend in aortic PWV among 25(OH)D quartiles. Subjects in the bottom 25(OH)D quartile (<20 ng ml−1) showed the highest aortic PWV (9.04 m s−1), compared with 2nd–4th quartile (8.07 m s−1, 7.93 m s−1 and 7.70 m s−1, respectively; P for trend <0.0001). The association between 25(OH)D and aortic PWV remained significant after adjustment for age, gender and other potential confounders; subjects in the first 25(OH)D quartile had adjusted odds ratio 2.04 (1.26–3.30) for having aortic PWV ⩾9 m s−1 (top quartile) in multiple regression. In conclusion, we found a clear significant and independent negative association between 25(OH)D and aortic PWV. Subjects with lowest vitamin D status showed the highest arterial stiffness.

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Acknowledgements

The present study was funded by the Internal Grant Agency of Czech Ministry of Health (grant no. 12102-4), by Ministry of Education (grant no. 0021620819) and by 7th Framework Programme of the EU (grant agreement no. 201550). We used several data from the post-MONICA study, therefore, we acknowledge the cooperation of all investigators and technical cooperators who participated on this survey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Charles University, Medical Faculty, Pilsen, Czech Republic

    O Mayer Jr, J Filipovský, J Seidlerová, J Vaněk & M Dolejšová

  2. Department of Immunodiagnostics, University Hospital, Pilsen, Czech Republic

    J Vrzalová

  3. Centre of Cardiovascular Prevention, Thomayer's University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic

    R Cífková

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  1. O Mayer Jr
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Correspondence to O Mayer Jr.

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Mayer, O., Filipovský, J., Seidlerová, J. et al. The association between low 25-hydroxyvitamin D and increased aortic stiffness. J Hum Hypertens 26, 650–655 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2011.94

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