Hypertension and other cardiovascular risk factors are associated with vitamin D deficiency in an urban Chinese population: A short report.

There is debate concerning the association of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. As both hypertension and vitamin D deficiency are increasingly important public health concerns in China, we investigated these associations in 566 Macao residents. The aim was to investigate the association of serum 25OHD and PTH concentrations with CVD risk factors (hypertension, high pulse rate, abnormal blood lipids). The data were stratified by age, sex, and blood pressure (BP) medication use. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess associations, adjusting for appropriate confounders. Lower 25OHD concentrations were significantly associated with higher systolic BP (SBP) mmHg (β=-0.07), diastolic BP (DBP) mmHg (β=-0.06) and pulse rate beats/min (β=-0.12), lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) concentrations nmol/L (β=10.51) and higher triglycerides (TG) nmol/L (β=-2.38). However, the inverse associations with lower 25OHD for higher SBP, DBP, pulse rate and TG were much stronger in those using BP medications, in those who were older, and in females. Higher PTH concentrations were significantly associated with higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) nmol/L (β=0.77) in the total population and with higher SBP mmHg (β=0.08) in males and those who were older (β=0.09). In conclusion, our major new finding is that lower 25OHD is associated with higher BP especially in those who use BP medications. These results might explain past discrepancies in findings regarding the association of BP and vitamin D and suggest that prospective studies and randomized control trials, in otherwise healthy Chinese populations taking blood pressure medications, are needed to confirm these cross-sectional results.