Vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes population

This study aims to assess vitamin D deficiency-induced dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in poor glycemic control among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. This study was carried out among 455 T2DM patients involving poor glycemic control (n = 247) and good glycemic control (n = 208). Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and HbA₁c were measured to assess glycemic control. Cardiac risk ratio, atherogenic index plasma, and atherogenic coefficient were calculated to assess and compare the CVD risk in different groups. Patients with poor control had a significantly higher level of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and non-high-density lipoprotein lipase cholesterol (non-HDL-C), atherogenic variables, and lower level of high-density lipoprotein lipase cholesterol (HDL-C) as compared to patients with good glycemic control. We also observed significant negative correlation of vitamin D with lipid markers and atherogenic variables in poor glycemic control diabetic population. The serum vitamin D levels were inversely associated with HbA₁c, FPG, TG, TC, and non-HDL-C. Furthermore, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and elevated non-HDL-C were the independent risks in hypovitaminosis D population. Vitamin D deficiency in poor glycemic control is likely to develop dyslipidemia as compared to vitamin D insufficient and sufficient groups. Thus, vitamin D supplementation and an increase in exposure to sunlight may reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications in diabetes.