Vitamin D levels and asymptomatic coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetic patients with elevated urinary albumin excretion rate

OBJECTIVE

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in type 2 diabetic patients. Severe vitamin D deficiency has been shown to predict cardiovascular mortality in type 2 diabetic patients.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We investigated the association among severe vitamin D deficiency, coronary calcium score (CCS), and asymptomatic CAD in type 2 diabetic patients with elevated urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER) >30 mg/24 h. This was a cross-sectional study including 200 type 2 diabetic patients without a history of CAD. Severe vitamin D deficiency was defined as plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (p-25OH]D3) <12.5 nmol/L. Patients with plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide >45.2 ng/L or CCS ≥400 were stratified as being high risk for CAD (n= 133). High-risk patients were examined by myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI; n = 109), computed tomography angiography (n = 20), or coronary angiography (CAG; n = 86). Patients’ p-25(OH)D3 levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.

RESULTS

The median (range) vitamin D level was 36.9 (3.8–118.6) nmol/L. The prevalence of severe vitamin D deficiency was 9.5% (19/200). MPI or CAG demonstrated significant CAD in 70 patients (35%). The prevalence of CCS ≥400 was 34% (68/200). Severe vitamin D deficiency was associated with CCS ≥400 (odds ratio OR] 4.3, 95% CI 1.5–12.1], P = 0.005). This association persisted after adjusting for risk factors (4.6, 1.5–13.9, P = 0.007). Furthermore, severe vitamin D deficiency was associated with asymptomatic CAD (adjusted OR 2.9, 1.02–7.66, P = 0.047).

CONCLUSIONS

In high-risk type 2 diabetic patients with elevated UAER, low levels of vitamin D are associated with asymptomatic CAD.Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetic patients have been shown to have an increased prevalence of subclinical CAD (1). Coronary calcium score (CCS), a noninvasive screening method quantifying the extent of coronary artery calcification (CAC), is generally accepted as a marker of increased cardiovascular risk. CCS has been shown to correlate strongly with histopathologic CAD (2,3) and the development of adverse coronary events (4,5).Results from cross-sectional studies examining the relation between low vitamin D levels and presence of CAD in the general population are conflicting (6,7). In type 1 diabetic patients, vitamin D deficiency has been shown to independently predict both prevalence and development of CAC (8). However, a study in type 2 diabetic patients with a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) found a strong inverse association between low vitamin D levels and prevalent coronary, cerebrovascular, or peripheral CVD (9). Furthermore, low vitamin D levels have been associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the general population (10) and in patients with type 1 (8) and 2 (11) diabetes.To expand our knowledge on the increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality seen in type 2 diabetic patients with low vitamin D levels, the current study investigated the association between severe vitamin D (plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D p-25(OH)D3]) deficiency and the presence of elevated CAC and asymptomatic CAD in type 2 diabetic patients with elevated urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER) >30 mg/24 h.