Meta-analysis of Vitamin D Deficiency and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation.
Clin Cardiol. 2016 Sep;39(9):537-43. doi: 10.1002/clc.22563. Epub 2016 Aug 24.
Zhang Z1, Yang Y1, Ng CY2, Wang D1, Wang J1, Li G1, Liu T3.
1Tianjin Key Laboratory of Ionic-Molecular Function of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiology, Tianjin Institute of Cardiology, Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
2Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
3Tianjin Key Laboratory of Ionic-Molecular Function of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiology, Tianjin Institute of Cardiology, Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, People's Republic of China. liutongdoc at 126.com.
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BACKGROUND:
There are accumulating studies investigating the association between vitamin D status and the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the results in these studies were inconsistent in regard to the role of vitamin D deficiency in predicting the development of AF.
HYPOTHESIS:
Vitamin D deficiency is associated increased risk of AF.
METHODS:
Using PubMed and Embase databases, we searched for records published before March 2016. Additionally, a manual search was conducted using all review articles on this topic. Of the 587 initially identified records, 8 studies with a total of 27 307 patients were finally analyzed.
RESULTS:
In the categorical variable analysis, vitamin D deficiency was associated with the occurrence of AF (odds ratio: 1.31, 95% confidence interval: 1.06-1.62, P = 0.01). In the continuous variable analysis, higher vitamin D levels appear to protect against the development of AF (odds ratio: 0.92, 95% confidence interval: 0.87-0.97, P = 0.002). However, the association is weak on the pooled analysis of prospective cohort studies focused on new-onset AF (P = 0.07 and 0.04), whereas the pooled analysis of case-control studies mainly assessing for chronic AF strongly support such an association (both P < 0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS:
Vitamin D deficiency modestly increases the risk of AF. Further studies are needed to determine the if there is a direct causal relationship between vitamin D levels and AF and whether vitamin D supplements will prevent new-onset AF.
PMID: 27556176 DOI: 10.1002/clc.22563