The association of 25(OH)D with blood pressure, pulse pressure and carotid-radial pulse wave velocity in African women.

High susceptibility of the African population to develop cardiovascular disease obliges us to investigate possible contributing risk factors. Our aim was to determine whether low 25(OH)D status is associated with increased blood pressure and carotid-radial pulse wave velocity in black South African women. We studied 291 urban women (mean age: 57.56±9.00 yrs.). 25(OH)D status was determined by serum 25(OH)D levels. Women were stratified into sufficient (>30 ng/ml), and insufficient/deficient (<30 ng/ml) groups. Cardiovascular variables were compared between groups. Women with low 25(OH)D levels had significantly higher SBP (150.8±27.1 vs. 137.6±21.0), DBP (94.7±14.5 vs. 89.3±12.3) and PP (53.15(50.7;55.7) vs. 46.3(29.4;84.6)) compared to women with sufficient levels. No significant difference was observed with regards to c-rPWV. ANCOVA analyses still revealed significant differences between the two groups with regards to SBP, DBP as well as PP. Partial correlations revealed significant inverse association between SBP and 25(OH)D (p =. 04;r = -.12). Women with low 25(OH)D levels were ~2 times more likely to have high SBP (95% CI: 3.23;1.05). To conclude, women with deficient/insufficient 25(OH)D had significantly higher SBP compared to women with a sufficient 25(OH) status. © 2013 Kruger et al.