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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #228708
Title: Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D is Associated with Markers of the Insulin Resistance Phenotype in Non-diabetic Adults

Author
item LIU, ENJU - STUDENT
item MEIGS, JAMES - MGH
item PITTAS, ANASTASSIOS - TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER
item MCKEOWN, NICOLA - JM USDA HNRCA @ TUFTS
item ECONOMOS, CHRISTINA - JM USDA HNRCA @ TUFTS
item Booth, Sarah
item Jacques, Paul

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/10/2008
Publication Date: 2/2/2009
Citation: Liu, E., Meigs, J.B., Pittas, A.G., Mckeown, N.M., Economos, C.D., Booth, S.L., Jacques, P. 2009. Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D is Associated with Markers of the Insulin Resistance Phenotype in Non-diabetic Adults. Journal of Nutrition. 139:329-334.

Interpretive Summary: Recent studies suggested that poor vitamin D status might increase the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Insulin resistance is the main defect that characterizes the development of type 2 diabetes, but there is little information on the relationship between vitamin D status and insulin resistance. To advance our understanding of the role of vitamin D status in the development of insulin resistance, we examined the association between insulin resistance and plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the most commonly used blood biomarker to assess vitamin D status, among 808 non-diabetic participants from the Framingham Offspring Study. We observed that participants with higher plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations had less insulin resistance. In insulin sensitive tissues, such as muscle, adipose tissue, and liver, vitamin D may affect the insulin action by modulating the intracellular free calcium concentrations. Our results suggest that maintaining optimal vitamin D status might be important for the prevention of type 2 diabetes.

Technical Abstract: We examined the cross-sectional association between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and markers of the insulin resistance phenotype. Plasma 25(OH)D concentrations were measured in 808 non-diabetic participants of the Framingham Offspring Study. Outcome measures included fasting and 2-hour post-challenge glucose and insulin; these were used to calculate the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and insulin sensitivity index (ISI 0,120). We also measured adiponectin, triacylglycerol, and HDL cholesterol concentrations as markers of the insulin resistant phenotype. Analysis of covariance was used to examine the differences in outcome variables across the tertile categories of plasma 25(OH)D adjusting for potential confounders. After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index and current smoking status, plasma 25(OH)D concentration was inversely associated with fasting glucose and insulin concentrations, and HOMA-IR. Compared to the participants in the lowest tertile category of plasma 25(OH)D, those in the highest tertile category had a 3.6% lower concentration of fasting glucose(P<0.01), 10.8% lower concentration of fasting insulin (P<0.01), and 14.3% lower level of HOMA-IR (P<0.01). After adjusting for age and sex, plasma 25(OH)D was positively associated with ISI 0,120, adiponectin and HDL cholesterol, and inversely associated with triacylglycerol, but these associations were no longer statistically significant after further adjustment for body mass index and current smoking status. No associations were seen between 25(OH)D and 2-hour post-challenge glucose. Among adults without diabetes, vitamin D status was inversely associated with surrogate fasting measures of insulin resistance. These results suggest that vitamin D status may be an important determinant for type 2 diabetes mellitus.