The Role of Vitamin D in Lipid Metabolism Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Abstract

Vitamin D, a fat-soluble prohormone, has established roles in bone homeostasis, but its extraskeletal functions, particularly in metabolic regulation, are of increasing interest. Observational studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease, yet the nature of these associations remains controversial. This study aims to investigate the relationship between serum vitamin D levels and key lipid profile markers in a large cohort. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed on data from 1,007 individuals. Serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides (TG) were analyzed. Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the relationships between vitamin D and lipid parameters. Results: The study population (mean age 37.1 ± 14.4 years) was predominantly female (99.9%). The mean vitamin D level was 12.1 ± 7.8 ng/mL, indicating widespread deficiency. A statistically significant, moderate positive correlation was observed between vitamin D and triglyceride levels (Pearson's r = 0.468, p < .001; Spearman's ρ = 0.201, p = .004). In contrast, no statistically significant correlations were observed between vitamin D and total cholesterol (p = .091), LDL-C (p = .185), or HDL-C (p = .117). The dataset was characterized by a high percentage of missing values for lipid markers (79–89%). Conclusion: In this predominantly female cohort with prevalent vitamin D deficiency, higher vitamin D levels were associated with higher triglyceride levels—a finding that contrasts with several prior reports. The relationships with other lipid markers were not significant. Given the study's limitations, including significant data gaps and gender imbalance, these results should be interpreted as exploratory. Further research in more diverse and complete datasets is needed to clarify these associations.