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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #355105
Title: Fat mass is associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration regardless of body size in men

Author
item YEUM, KYUNG-JIN - Konkuk University
item DAWSON-HUGHES, BESS - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item SOO, NAM-SEOK - Ajou University Of Korea

Submitted to: Nutrients
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/25/2018
Publication Date: 6/29/2018
Citation: Yeum, K., Dawson-Hughes, B., Soo, N. 2018. Fat mass is associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration regardless of body size in men. Nutrients. 10(7):850. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10070850.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10070850

Interpretive Summary: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with several chronic diseases including osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Understanding the factors affecting vitamin D status is critical towards the development of interventions for such diseases. Because vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, its status can be affected by the amount of total body fat. Accordingly, serum 25OHD status is reported to be lower in older adults with greater body fat. On the other hand, low vitamin D status in obese individuals may also be explained by dilution of vitamin D, thus implicating body weight as a major factor affecting serum 25OHD status. The aim of the current study was to determine the association of serum 25OHD concentration with body weight and the association of serum 25OHD with body fat within categories of low, middle, and high body weight. The study population was older men and women who participate in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Body weight was a weak determinant of serum 25OHD levels. Within each category of body weight, serum 25OHD decreased progressively as fat mass increased in men. This pattern was similar in the women but not consistently significant. Whereas body weight predicted a small decrease in serum 25OHD in the men and the women, greater adiposity, for any given weight, predicted larger decreases in the men, with similar trend in women. These findings indicate that body fat mass is an important determinant of low serum 25OHD concentration, independent of body weight in older adults.

Technical Abstract: There are no large community-based studies examining the association of body size vs. body fat with vitamin D status. Association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) with body weight and subcategories of body weight defined by fat mass were evaluated in a large, free living population. Out of a total of 29,235 subjects from the 2008-2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the relevant data included 6,458 subjects age over 50 years who were analyzed cross-sectionally. Serum 25OHD concentrations were compared in men (n=3164) and in women (n=3294) by tertiles of body weight and body fat mass, as measured by Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) within sex-specific tertiles of body weight. Serum 25OHD was weakly inversely correlated with body weight in the men and the women after adjustment for age (r= -0.075 and -0.073, respectively, P< 0.001 for both). Within each tertile of body weight, serum 25OHD decreased progressively as fat mass increased in men. This pattern was similar in the women but not consistently significant. Whereas body weight predicted a small decrease in serum 25OHD in the men and the women, greater adiposity, for any given weight, predicted larger decreases in the men, but not consistently in women.