title: Prevalence and seasonal variation of hypovitaminosis D and its relationship to bone metabolism in healthy Hungarian men over 50 years of age: the HunMen Study.
abstract: This study reports a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D and low bone mineral density (BMD) in a healthy Hungarian male cohort over 50 years of age. Men with 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of <75 nmol/L had a significantly higher 10-year hip and major osteoporotic fracture probability using the country-specific fracture risk assessment (FRAX) algorithm.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study is to characterize the prevalence and seasonal variation of hypovitaminosis D and its relationship to bone metabolism in healthy Hungarian men over 50 years of age.
  
  
  METHODS
  We determined levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D), PTH, osteocalcin (OC), C-terminal telopeptides of type-I collagen (CTX-I), procollagen type 1 amino-terminal propeptide (PINP), BMD at L1-L4 (LS) and femur neck (FN), daily dietary calcium intake, and the 10-year probability of hip fracture and a major osteoporotic fracture using the country-specific FRAX algorithm in 206 randomly selected ambulatory men.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean (range) age of the volunteers was 60 (51-81) years. The prevalence of hypovitaminosis D (25-OH-D, <75 nmol/L) was 52.9%. The prevalence of low (T-score < -1.0) BMD at the FN and LS was 45% and 35.4%, respectively. The mean (range) FRAX hip fracture and FRAX major osteoporotic fracture was 0.8% (0-9.4%) and 3.8% (1.7-16%), respectively. On comparing the vitamin D sufficient to the insufficient group, there was a statistically significant difference between the FRAX hip fracture and FRAX major osteoporotic fracture indexes. There was significant seasonal variation in the vitamin D levels; the lowest levels were measured in winter and the highest in summer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D and low BMD were observed in the studied Hungarian male population. This is the first study reporting higher 10-year hip and major osteoporotic fracture probability using the country-specific FRAX algorithm in individuals with hypovitaminosis D.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical and Health Science Center, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary. harjit@med.unideb.hu
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Bhattoa
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: More
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kappelmayer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balogh
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalina
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Antal-Szalmas
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D058866:Osteoporotic Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012621:Seasons; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D