Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and the Incidence of Peripheral Artery Disease in the Elderly: The Pro.V.A Study.
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to examine whether low serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD)are associated with a higher risk of incident peripheral artery disease (PAD) in a representative group of elderly people.


METHODS
We followed 1568 community-dwelling elderly participants without PAD at the baseline (among a sample of 2097 initially eligible) over a mean of 4.4 years as part of the Progetto Veneto Anziani (Pro.V.A.) study. The baseline serum 25OHD levels were categorized as ＜24, 25-49, 50-74, ＞75 nmol/L, and incident PAD was defined as an ankle-brachial index below 0.9.


RESULTS
At the baseline, there were no differences in known risk factors for PAD (BMI, waist circumference, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, smoking habits, total cholesterol) or in the ankle-brachial index (ABI) between the groups with different serum 25OHD levels (＜24, 25-49, 50-74, ＞75 nmol/L). During a 4.4-year follow-up, 371 subjects developed PAD. The group with serum 25OHD levels ＞75 nmol/L was set as the reference group, and an adjusted Cox's regression analysis showed no association between low vitamin D levels and incident PAD during the follow-up: the hazard ratio ranged from 0.76 (95%CI: 0.41-1.42) for participants with serum 25OHD levels below 25 nmol/L to 1.32 (95%CI: 0.72-2.39) for those with serum 25OHD levels between 50-74 nmol/L (p for trend=0.08). These results did not change when participants were stratified by several risk factors for PAD.


CONCLUSIONS
Baseline hypovitaminosis D did not predict the onset of PAD over a 4.4-year follow-up in elderly people.
Department of Medicine (DIMED), Geriatrics Section, University of Padova.
Nicola
N
Veronese
Marina
M
De Rui
Francesco
F
Bolzetta
Elena Debora
ED
Toffanello
Alessandra
A
Coin
Sabina
S
Zambon
Maria Chiara
MC
Corti
Giovannella
G
Baggio
Egle
E
Perissinotto
Stefania
S
Maggi
Gaetano
G
Crepaldi
Enzo
E
Manzato
Giuseppe
G
Sergi
D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000097:blood*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood
D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D