ABSTRACT:
Vitamin D is a hormone related to skeletal integrity and many other health conditions. Recent studies suggest an association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D3] and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The aim of this study was to evaluate plasma 25(OH)D3 levels in T2DM Syrian patients in Lattakia city, and to assess the relationship between 25(OH)D3 levels and glycemic control in addition to other variables (gender, age, duration of diabetes, BMI, smoking and fast blood glucose (FBG)). A total of 75 T2DM patients were included in the study. 25(OH)D3 was measured in serum samples using radioimmunoassay (RIA) method. Glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was measured in whole blood samples using fast ion-exchange resin separation method. FBG was determined in whole blood samples by commercially available biochemical kits. The SPSS 17.0 program was used for the statistical analysis. Probability (P) value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D3 ? 20 ng/ml) was seen in 55% of T2DM patients. Uncontrolled HbA1c was seen in 61.33% of T2DM patients. There was no relationship between serum 25(OH)D3 and HbA1c or FBG (P=0.989, P=0.611 respectively). The relationship of 25(OH)D3 with gender, age, duration of diabetes, smoking were not significant (P>0.05). However, there was a significant relationship between 25(OH)D3 and BMI (P=0.042). Our findings suggests that vitamin D deficiency is common in T2DM Syrian patients in Lattakia , and Its incidence decreases with BMI, even though its role in glycosylated hemoglobin could not be established.