Authors: Rona J Strawbridge Anna Deleskog Olga McLeod Lasse Folkersen Maryam Kavousi Karl Gertow Damiano Baldassarre Fabrizio Veglia Karin Leander Bruna Gigante Jussi Kauhanen Rainer Rauramaa Andries J Smit Elmo Mannarino Philippe Giral Abbas Dehghan Albert Hofman Oscar H Franco Steve E Humphries Elena Tremoli Ulf de Faire Sven Gustafsson ClaesGöran Östensson Per Eriksson John Öhrvik Anders Hamsten
Publish Date: 2014/03/25
Volume: 57, Issue: 6, Pages: 1159-1172
Abstract
The findings of studies investigating whether or not low serum 25hydroxyvitamin D 25OHD concentration promotes development of atherosclerosis have been contradictory The present study employed a Mendelian randomisation approach and carotid artery intima–media thickness cIMT a surrogate marker of coronary artery disease to address this questionThe multicentre longitudinal Carotid Intima–Media Thickness and IMTProgression as Predictors of Vascular Events in a HighRisk European Population IMPROVE cohort study which enrolled individuals with at least three cardiovascular risk factors and no history or symptoms of cardiovascular disease was used for the present investigation Participants underwent carotid ultrasound examination at baseline and at months 15 and 30 Six single nucleotide polymorphisms SNPs associated with serum 25OHD concentration in genomewide association studies were identified and genotyped in 3418 individuals of whom 929 had type 2 diabetesSNPs in the genes encoding vitamin D binding protein GC rs2282679 and rs7041 and 7dehydrocholesterol reductase/NAD synthetase1 DHCR7 rs12785878 and rs3829251 were negatively associated with 25OHD levels Effect sizes and significance of associations between SNPs and 25OHD levels differed between individuals with and without type 2 diabetes although no significant interactions were observed A SNP in DHCR7 interacted with type 2 diabetes to significantly influence progression of cIMT measures independent of 25OHD levels and established risk factors Expression analysis demonstrated that this SNP modulates DHCR7 mRNA levels in aortic adventitiaSNPs in GC and DHCR7 were associated with serum levels of 25OHD but only rs3829251 DHCR7 influenced progression of subclinical atherosclerosis as measured by cIMT in a manner dependent on type 2 diabetes status but independent of 25OHD levels
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