Serum Vitamin D Levels Among Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Nigeria: Preliminary Findings

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (type2 DM) has become a global health challenge. Nigeria is experiencing an upsurge in the prevalence of the disease and insulin resistance (IR) arising from obesity has been observed to be one of the causes. Vitamin D insufficiency has been implicated in IR and ultimately type 2 DM. The current study was aimed at evaluating serum vitamin D levels in type 2 DM in one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, Abuja, Nigeria. Eighty-eight (88) subjects were recruited for the study. These were made up of 53 type 2 diabetic patients (23 Males; 30 Females) and 35 control subjects (13 Males; 22 Females). Serum vitamin D and other biochemical analytes were measured using standard laboratory techniques. The results showed significantly higher (p<0.05) mean blood glucose (8.7± 0.38 mmol/L) and glycated haemoglobin (HbAic) (6.5 ± 0.41%) levels in the diabetic patients than in the controls respectively (4.6 ± 0.08 mmol/L; 4.3 ± 0.11%). The mean serum vitamin D value (42.1 ± 5.0 ng/ml) was significantly lower (p<0.05) in the diabetic patients than in the controls (184.5 ± 13.1 ng/ml). The values were higher in males (47.5 ± 9.7ng/ml) than in females (38.3 ± 5.2 ng/ml) in the diabetic group. The relationship between vitamin D and other parameters were not statistically significant.  There is need for further study in Northern Nigeria involving large sample size.