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Association of Serum Vitamin D Level and Carotid Atherosclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis
Author(s) -
Chen FuHua,
Liu Tian,
Xu Lei,
Zhang Lei,
Zhou XiaoBo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of ultrasound in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1550-9613
pISSN - 0278-4297
DOI - 10.1002/jum.14494
Subject(s) - medicine , odds ratio , meta analysis , publication bias , confidence interval , subgroup analysis , cochrane library , intima media thickness , vitamin d and neurology , gastroenterology , common carotid artery , carotid arteries
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of subclinical atherosclerosis. To explore the potential link of the serum vitamin D level with carotid atherosclerosis, this meta‐analysis assessed the correlation between vitamin D and carotid intima‐media thickness as well as carotid atherosclerotic plaque. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were searched until the end of March 2017. Clinical studies investigating the relationship between vitamin D and carotid atherosclerosis were included. The outcome data were extracted according to the inclusion criteria and pooled for an effect estimate by a random‐effects model. Of the 506 initially retrieved studies, 11 studies involving a total of 16,434 participants were included in the meta‐analysis. Newcastle‐Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale scores suggested that the included studies were of high quality. The pooled effects estimate showed that the serum vitamin D level was negatively associated with carotid atherosclerosis (odds ratio, 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.93–0.96), with substantial heterogeneity among the individual studies ( I 2 = 54%). Furthermore, a subgroup analysis suggested that hypovitaminosis D was associated with an 0.85‐fold decrease in the odds of having a higher carotid intima‐media thickness (95% CI, 0.76–0.96; P < .05; I 2 = 69%). Additionally, the pooled analysis also indicated that the serum vitamin D level was a protective factor against increased carotid plaque (odds ratio, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93–0.97; P < .05; I 2 = 29%). Funnel plots and the Egger regression test showed the absence of a publication bias. In this meta‐analysis, we comprehensively revealed a close link between vitamin D deficiency and carotid atherosclerosis. Patients with hypovitaminosis D might have extra requirements for preventive and therapeutic measures against early atherosclerosis, thus reducing the cardiovascular disease risk in the long term.