Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. Jun 15, 2025; 16(6): 105558
Published online Jun 15, 2025. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v16.i6.105558
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with apolipoprotein A1 levels in patients with young-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus
Ye Hu, Li-Na Shao, Jia Zheng, Xin-Miao Zhang, Ying-Xiang Song, Yu-Bo Xing
Ye Hu, Xin-Miao Zhang, Ying-Xiang Song, Yu-Bo Xing, Geriatric Medicine Center, Department of Endocrinology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital (Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College), Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China
Li-Na Shao, Urology and Nephrology Center, Department of Nephrology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital (Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College), Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China
Jia Zheng, Center for General Practice Medicine, Department of Nutrition, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital (Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College), Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Hu Y and Xing YB designed the study and acquired funding; Xing YB, Shao LN, and Song YX participated in the formal analysis and investigation; Zheng J and Zhang XM participated in data collection and literature review; Hu Y and Shao LN designed and executed the data analysis plan; Hu Y drafted the original manuscript; All authors read and approved the final manuscript, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Supported by the Medical Science and Technology Project of Zhejiang Province, No. 2022KY518; General Scientific Research Project of Zhejiang Provincial Education Department, No. Y202352799; and Medical Science and Technology Project of Zhejiang Province, No. 2024KY726.
Institutional review board statement: This study was conducted according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital (No. QT2024293).
Informed consent statement: Because this study was retrospective, the ethical review allows for an exemption from knowing, without the need to obtain informed consent from the survey subjects again.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—a checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-a checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yu-Bo Xing, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Geriatric Medicine Center, Department of Endocrinology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital (Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College), No. 158 Shangtang Road, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China. zjxingyb@163.com
Received: January 27, 2025
Revised: March 25, 2025
Accepted: May 19, 2025
Published online: June 15, 2025
Processing time: 137 Days and 22.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Young-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with adverse health outcomes and increased mortality. Vitamin D (VitD) deficiency is likewise linked to various adverse health outcomes and is significantly associated with lipid metabolism in patients with T2DM. However, little is known regarding the mechanisms of interaction between VitD and apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1) in young-onset T2DM.

AIM

To evaluate the relationship between VitD and apoA1 levels in patients with young-onset T2DM.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted at Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital between January 2019 and December 2023. A total of 642 patients with T2DM who aged 18-40 years were included and matched with 642 individuals without diabetes (controls) based on age and sex. No specific intervention was applied, and data were collected from medical records and laboratory tests. The relationship between VitD and apoA1 levels was examined using Spearman’s correlation and logistic regression models.

RESULTS

We found that VitD levels were significantly lower in patients with T2DM compared to controls (15.9 ng/mL vs 17.4 ng/mL, P < 0.001), with a notable positive correlation between VitD deficiency and reduced apoA1 levels. Multifactor logistic regression analysis identified that severe VitD deficiency was an independent risk factor for apoA1 in young-onset T2DM patients (odds ratio = 3.43, 95% confidence interval: 1.16-10.20, β = 1.23, P = 0.026).

CONCLUSION

Our findings reveal an association between VitD and apoA1 in young-onset T2DM, suggesting that VitD may play a crucial role in metabolic regulation and cardiovascular risk management.

Keywords: Young-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus; Vitamin D; Apolipoprotein A1; Lipid metabolism; Cardiovascular risk management

Core Tip: Vitamin D (VitD) deficiency is associated with various adverse health outcomes and is significantly associated with lipid metabolism. This study is the first to explore the relationship between VitD and apolipoprotein A1 in young-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients, emphasizing their potential effects and mechanisms, and underscore the necessity for further investigation into the impact of targeted interventions, such as VitD supplementation, on metabolic parameters especially in patients with young-onset T2DM.