Children with low vitamin D were 1.8 X more likely to have poor arteries 27 years later – Feb 2015

Childhood 25-OH Vitamin D Levels and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Adulthood: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/jc.2014-3944
Received: October 28, 2014, Accepted: January 07, 2015. Published Online: February 10, 2015
Markus Juonala, Atte Voipio, Katja Pahkala, Jorma S. A. Viikari, Vera Mikkilä, Mika Kähönen, Nina Hutri-Kähönen, Antti Jula, David Burgner, Matthew A. Sabin, Jukka Marniemi, Britt-Marie Loo, Tomi Laitinen, Eero Jokinen, Leena Taittonen, Costan G. Magnussen, Olli T. Raitakari

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Context:
Low vitamin D levels in adulthood have been associated with cardiovascular disease.

Objective:
To investigate if low vitamin D levels in childhood are related with increased carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in adulthood.

Design, Setting, and Participants:
The analyses included 2148 subjects from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, aged 3–18 years at baseline (in 1980). Subjects were re-examined at age 30–45 years (in 2007). Childhood levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D were measured from stored serum in 2010.

Main Outcome Measure:
The carotid artery IMT from 2007 was used.

Results:
When adjusted for age, sex, and childhood risk factors, continuous data of childhood 25-OH vitamin was inversely associated with adulthood carotid IMT levels among females (β ± SE −0.006 ± 0.003, P = 0.03), but not among males (0.001 ± 0.004, P = 0.88). Children with 25-OH vitamin D levels in the lowest quartile (<40 nmol/L) had significantly increased odds of having high-risk IMT (highest decile of common carotid or carotid bulb IMT or carotid plaque) as adults, in analyses adjusted for age, sex and either childhood risk factors (odds ratio 1.70 [95 % CI 1.15–2.31], P = 0.0007) or adult risk factors, including adult vitamin D levels (odds ratio 1.80 [1.30–2.48], P = 0.0004). In sex-specific analyses, these associations were significant both in females and males (P always <0.05). In sensitivity analyses, those with childhood vitamin D levels in the lowest quintile (<37 nmol/L), gave similar results to those using a quartile cut-point.

Conclusions:
Low 25-OH vitamin D levels in childhood were associated with increased carotid IMT in adulthood.

 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki.


Interesting: An 8 year delay from measurement time till publication

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