title: High prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in southern Chinese renal transplant recipients.
abstract: Vitamin D deficiency is common globally. There is evidence that vitamin D status may be related to immune function and cardiovascular disease. The vitamin D status of Chinese kidney transplant recipients has never been investigated. We performed a cross-sectional study and measured the level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in 94 Chinese renal transplant recipients with stable allograft function. Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency were detected in 43.6% and 54.2% of patients, respectively. About 53.2% of the patients also had elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels. The level of 25(OH)D was lower in kidney transplant recipients compared with healthy controls matched for age and sex (52.5 ± 15.6 nmol/L vs. 57.5 ± 19.0 nmol/L, p = 0.05), but the level of serum creatinine was higher in kidney transplant recipients (120.3 ± 48.5 μmol/L and 78.3 ± 15.3 μmol/L, p < 0.01). The level of 25(OH)D was negatively correlated with that of PTH (p = 0.001). The latter was associated with serum creatinine (p = 0.001) and duration of dialysis (p = 0.001). Patients with a history of acute rejection showed lower levels of 25(OH)D (45.3 ± 11.9 nmol/L vs. 54.2 ± 16.0 nmol/L, p = 0.003). We conclude that vitamin D deficiency is prevalent among Chinese renal transplant recipients. In view of the potential immunomodulatory effect of vitamin D, the relationship between vitamin D level and rejection and the effect of vitamin D supplementation in renal transplant recipients warrant further investigations.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong (SAR), PR China.
authors.forename: Maggie K M
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Maggie M Y
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Mok
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yung
authors.forename: Colin S O
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Tak Mao
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D