Insulin resistance in Saudi postmenopausal women with and without metabolic syndrome and its association with vitamin D deficiency

Eman M Alissa; Wafa A Alnahdi; Nabil Alama; Gordon A Ferns

doi:10.1016/j.jcte.2014.09.001

Insulin resistance in Saudi postmenopausal women with and without metabolic syndrome and its association with vitamin D deficiency

J Clin Transl Endocrinol. 2014 Sep 16;2(1):42-47. doi: 10.1016/j.jcte.2014.09.001. eCollection 2015 Mar.

Authors

Eman M Alissa¹, Wafa A Alnahdi¹, Nabil Alama¹, Gordon A Ferns²

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 12713, Jeddah 21483, Saudi Arabia.
² Medical Education and Metabolic Medicine, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Brighton, BN1 9PH, UK.

Abstract

Background: There is increasing interest in the non-skeletal effects of vitamin D and the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus. We aimed to investigate the relationship between surrogate indices of insulin resistance (IR), and vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency in postmenopausal Saudi women with and without metabolic syndrome.

Methods: The study population consisted of 300 postmenopausal women aged 46-88 years enrolled consecutively from women attending the Outpatient Clinics of King Abdulaziz University Hospital. Demographic, anthropometric, and biochemical parameters were recorded. Data were analyzed for women with and without metabolic syndrome.

Results: Abdominal obesity, IR, and hypovitaminosis D were highly prevalent within our population sample. Of the components used to define metabolic syndrome; waist circumference, serum triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were significantly related with all surrogate measures of IR. Significant inverse correlations were found between serum vitamin D and serum TG, FBG, and diastolic blood pressure, within the study cohort.

Conclusions: These observations suggest that hypovitaminosis D may be associated with the risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Interrelationships between IR, metabolic syndrome, and hypovitaminosis D are of particular interest in Saudi population, given the high prevalence of these conditions in this region.

Keywords: 25(OH)D3, 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3; AHA/NHLBI, American Heart Association/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; BMI, body mass index; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; FBG, fasting blood glucose; HDL-C, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol; HOMA-IR, homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance; IR, Insulin resistance; Insulin resistance; KAUH, King Abdulaziz University Hospital; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol; Metabolic syndrome; PTH, parathyroid hormone; Postmenopausal women; QUICKI, quantitative insulin sensitivity check index-I; SBP, systolic blood pressure; SD, standard deviation; Saudi; TG, triglycerides; Vitamin D.