Abstract

Background & aims: Previous investigations have been indicated that vitamin D deficiency is an amendable risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the general populations. Limited data is available concerning the relationship of vitamin D status and risk factors of CVD in the individuals with obesity and the existing data are highly controversial. We investigated whether serum vitamin D situation is related to multiple traditional CVD risk factors in Iranian obese subjects. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 214 Iranian adults with obesity (94 males and 120 females) aged 20-60 years, who attended the specialized outpatient clinics in Zabol city. Participants were categorized as vitamin D sufficient, insufficient, and deficient according to their serum 25(OH)D concentrations. Afterward, the presence of hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) as well as diabetes, hypertension, and high serum concentrations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) as CVD risk factors were evaluated in the participants. Results: There was a noticeable regular trend regarding hypercholesterolemia (p = 0.008), high LDL-C (p = 0.024), hypertension (p = 0.021), and high hs-CRP (p < 0.0001) across various categories of vitamin D status. In adjusted model, vitamin D-deficient subjects were at higher risk for having hypercholesterolemia (OR: 3.22, p = 0.031), high LDL-C (OR: 2.37, p = 0.047), hypertension (OR: 2.32, p = 0.042), and high hs-CRP (OR: 5.49, p = 0.001) than ones with sufficient vitamin D status. Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency in obese subjects was found to be strongly related to higher risk of unfavorable lipid profile, hypertension, and high hs-CRP. (C) 2021 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.