Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the 25-hydroxyvitamin (25(OH)D3) levels in general population.

Introduction: Vitamin D is important for normal bone health. Vitamin D deficiency is a well-known cause of rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, and it is also of importance for development of osteoporosis. Beyond this, vitamin D deficiency is suggested as a contributing factor in the development of several other diseases and conditions such as diabetes, some cancer types and immunologic diseases.

Materials and methods: We targeted 40 cases who participated in an annual health check-up from September 2011 until December 2011. In our evaluation we defined levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 <25 ng/ml as vitamin D deficiency.

Results: The study consisted of 40 adults (35 women (83.4%)) and 5 men (16.6%)) with a mean age 49.66±18.22DS, range from 16–76 years, and body mass index 28.5kg/m². Mean serum 25(OH)D3 concentration was 17.33 ng/ml. Using a cut-off point of 25 ng/ml, Seventy- two point five (72.5%) of this population had low vitamin D status. The highest 25(OH)D3 concentration was 47.24 ng/ml. We found vitamin (25(OH) D3 < 10 ng/ml) in 40% of our cases. Mean serum level of calcium was normal 9.33 mg/dl (normal range 8.4–10.4). The level of calcium didn’t correlated with low level of Vitamin D3.

Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency was prevalent in our ambulatory patients. Based on our results, we feel that national recommendations for vitamin D intake should be increased in our country. During the study most of the days were sunny.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.