1 25 Vitamin D3 levels in Qatari diabetes patients
Authors: Ahmed Lina , Dakroury Youssra , Dargham Soha R. , Latif Aishah , Atkin Stephen , Robay Amal , Chidiac Omar M. , Khalil Charbel Abi 
Published: June 2019

Lina H.M Ahmed1, Youssra Dakroury1, Soha R. Dargham1, Aishah Latif2, Stephen Atkin1, Amal Robay1, Omar M. Chidiac1, Charbel Abi Khalil1 1 Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar, 2Antidoping Laboratory Qatar. Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency is a major issue worldwide and particularly in countries in the Middle East where full coverage of the body is a normal cultural practice. Epidemiology studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency is associated with the development of diabetes where those levels are lower than normal subjects. However, the role of vitamin D in the development of diabetes complications is unclear. We hypothesized that vitamin D3 levels (25OHD3) and its active form 1,25 dihydroxyvitaminD3 (1,25OHD3) would differ between subjects with and without diabetes due to full coverage of the body being the determining factor. Methods: 499 Qatari subjects were recruited of whom 274 (54.9%) had type 2 diabetes and 222 (44.5%) did not. We used the Mann-Whitney test to compare the levels of both vitamin D outcomes, 25OHD3 and 1,25OHD3, their data were not normally distributed. First we compared the 25OHD3 and its active form 1,25OHD3 between diabetes and non diabetes subjects. Among those who were diabetic, we then correlated the 25OHD3 and 1,25OHD3 with diabetes complications (Table). 25OHD3 and 1,25OHD3 were measured by LC-MS/MS analysis. Results: Patients with diabetes were significantly more deficient in both 25OHD3 (p-value = 0.001) and 1,25OHD3 (p-value <  0.001) than non-diabetic patients. There were gender differences in the levels of vitamin D, with males observing less vitamin D levels than females (p-value <  0.001). Higher 25OHD3 levels were associated diabetic retinopathy (p-value = 0.014) but there was no difference in other parameters (Table). 1,25OHD3 deficiency was associated with hypertension (p-value = 0.043), but no other factors. Conclusion These data show that both 25OHD3 and 1,25OHD3 levels are lower in diabetes patients and in Qatari females, with only 1,25OHD3 deficiency being associated with hypertension, whilst both 25OHD3 and 1,25OHD3 deficiency were not associated with other complications of T2DM Table Alpha_D3, median (IQR) P-value 25OHD3, median (IQR) P-value Gender Gender Male (n = 97) 0.031 (0.037) 0.009 Male (n = 121) 8.26 (11.01) 0.000 Female (n = 96) 0.022 (0.032) Female (n = 153) 4.53 (7.44) Hypertension Hypertension No (n = 76) 0.033 (0.031) 0.043 No (n = 100) 6.39 (10.39) 0.612 Yes (n = 117) 0.023 (0.033) Yes (n = 174) 6.06 (10.61) Dyslipidemia Dyslipidemia No (n = 61) 0.032 (0.036) 0.166 No (n = 75) 6.86 (10.63) 0.061 Yes (n = 132) 0.024 (0.032) Yes (n = 199) 5.56 (9.00) Diab Retinopathy Diab Retinopathy No (n = 127) 0.029 (0.032) 0.196 No (n = 192) 6.25 (8.96) 0.014 Yes (n = 66) 0.022 (0.031) Yes (n = 82) 7.98 (11.76) Diab Neuropathy Diab Neuropathy No (n = 159) 0.028 (0.032) 0.613 No (n = 223) 6.25 (10.66) 0.740 Yes (n = 34) 0.023 (0.034) Yes (n = 51) 6.18 (7.79) Peripheral Artery Disease Peripheral Artery Disease No (n = 183) 0.027 (0.032) 0.222 No (n = 262) 6.14 (10.53) 0.287 Yes (N = 10) 0.035 (0.037) Yes (N = 12) 10.78 (12.66) Coronary Artery Disease Coronary Artery Disease No (N = 161) 0.029 (0.034) 0.058 No (N = 234) 6.31 (10.62) 0.871 Yes (N = 32) 0.021 (0.023) Yes (N = 40) 5.49 (8.74) Stroke Stroke No (n = 186) 0.027 (0.032) 0.669 No (n = 262) 6.27 (10.62) 0.369 Yes (n = 7) 0.023 (0.021) Yes (n = 12) 4.92 (9.56)