Unraveling the complex interplay between obesity and vitamin D metabolism

Sci Rep. 2024 Mar 30;14(1):7583. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58154-z.

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency and obesity are a worldwide health issue. Obesity refers to the accumulation of excessive fats in the body which could lead to the development of diseases. Obese people have low vitamin D levels for several reasons including larger volume of distribution, vitamin D tightly bound in fatty tissues, reduced absorption, and diets with low vitamin D. Accurately measuring vitamin D metabolites is challenging. The Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the analysis of vitamin D metabolites in the serum. Blood samples were collected from 452 subjects which consisted of baseline (vitamin D deficient obese subjects), follow-up (supplemented obese subjects), and healthy volunteers. The vitamin D metabolites were separated adequately by the developed UHPLC-MS/MS method. Moreover, the validation criteria for the method were within an acceptable range. The baseline, follow-up and even healthy volunteers were deficient in 25OHD3 and 25OHD2. The baseline and healthy subjects had comparable concentration of vitamin D2 and D3. However, healthy subjects had a higher concentration of 25OHD and its epimer compared to the baseline subjects. The vitamin D3 was increased significantly in the follow- up subjects; therefore, the 25OHD3 was increased significantly compared to the baseline as well; however, the increase was insufficient to achieve the optimal range. The UHPLC-MS/MS method test was applied successfully on estimation of vitamin D metabolites in subjects. This study indicates the significance of taking into account the metabolic and storage effects when evaluating the vitamin D status in obese subjects.

Keywords: Epimers of vitamin D; Obese subjects vitamin D deficiency; UHPLC-MS/MS; Vitamin D; Vitamin D blood measurement test; Vitamin D metabolites.

MeSH terms

  • Chromatography, Liquid / methods
  • Ergocalciferols
  • Humans
  • Obesity
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry* / methods
  • Vitamin D*
  • Vitamins

Substances

  • Vitamin D
  • Vitamins
  • Ergocalciferols