title: Vitamin D, vascular calcification and mortality among alcoholics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the relationship between low vitamin D levels and mortality among alcoholics.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred twenty-eight alcoholic patients admitted to our hospital were followed up as outpatients. Nutritional status was evaluated measuring percentages of fat and lean mass in different body compartments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lower vitamin D levels were observed in patients with worse liver function. Vitamin D was lower in patients with lower total lean mass (Z = 2.8, P = 0.005), but it was not related to fat mass. There was a significant trend to higher long-term mortality among non-cirrhotics with vitamin D levels below 30 ng/ml, although Cox's regression model revealed that only Child score and age were independently related to mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vitamin D deficiency is common among alcoholic patients and is associated with low lean mass and liver dysfunction. Among non-cirrhotics, serum vitamin D levels below 30 ng/ml are associated with a greater long-term mortality.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Quintero-Platt
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain egonrey@ull.es.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: González-Reimers
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: M Candelaria
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Martín-González
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jorge-Ripper
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Rubén
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hernández-Luis
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiología, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abreu-González
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Melchor
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Gaspar
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Santolaria-Fernández
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis; D061205:Vascular Calcification / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality*; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D012709:Serum Albumin; D014807:Vitamin D; D001663:Bilirubin