Associations between circulating 1,25(OH)₂D concentration and odds of metachronous colorectal adenoma

Cellular-level studies demonstrate that the availability of the secosteroid hormone 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D] to colon cells promotes anti-carcinogenic activities. Although epidemiological data are relatively sparse, suggestive inverse trends have been reported between circulating 1,25(OH)2D concentration and colorectal neoplasia. We therefore sought to evaluate the relationship between circulating 1,25(OH)2D concentrations and odds for metachronous colorectal adenomas among 1,151 participants from a randomized trial of ursodeoxycholic acid for colorectal adenoma prevention. No relationship between 1,25(OH)2D and overall odds for metachronous lesions was observed, with ORs (95% CIs) of 0.80 (0.60-1.07) and 0.81 (0.60-1.10) for participants in the second and third tertiles, respectively, compared with those in the lowest (p-trend = 0.17). However, a statistically significant inverse association was observed between circulating 1,25(OH)2D concentration and odds of proximal metachronous adenoma, with an OR (95% CI) of 0.71 (0.52-0.98) for individuals in the highest tertile of 1,25(OH)2D compared with those in the lowest (p-trend = 0.04). While there was no relationship overall between 1,25(OH)2D and metachronous distal lesions, there was a significantly reduced odds for women, but not men, in the highest 1,25(OH)2D tertile compared with the lowest (OR 0.53; 95% CI 0.27-1.03; p-trend = 0.05; p-interaction = 0.08). The observed differences in associations with proximal and distal adenomas could indicate that delivery and activity of vitamin D metabolites in different anatomic sites in the colorectum varies, particularly by gender. These results identify novel associations between 1,25(OH)2D and metachronous proximal and distal colorectal adenoma, and suggest that future studies are needed to ascertain potential mechanistic differences in 1,25(OH)2D action in the colorectum.