Genetic Variants Alter Clinical Effects of Vitamin D Levels

Genetic variants within the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene can significantly modify associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and major health outcomes. The study, published in the Nov. 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that a personalized clinical approach may be necessary in evaluating serum vitamin D levels as a modifiable risk factor for common health outcomes because of variants affecting downstream 25-hydroxyvitamin D metabolism. “Genetic variation within the vitamin D receptor could alter associations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations with disease outcomes,” write the authors, led by Gregory Levin, Ph.D., from the University of Washington, Seattle. “Further studies are needed to confirm these observed associations and to enhance knowledge of how variation in vitamin D metabolism genes may stratify individuals as to their susceptibility to vitamin D deficiency.” In a discovery cohort, the researchers studied 141 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) found in 1,514 white participants of the Cardiovascular Health Study with no known prevalent cancer, cardiovascular disease, or hip fracture. Replication meta-analyses were conducted, applying the discovered variants across data from three additional studies of more than 2,700 participants. The researchers found that over 11 years of follow-up in the discovery cohort, 948 participants (63 percent) […]