TY - JOUR
T1 - Influence of geographical latitude on vitamin D status
T2 - cross-sectional results from the BiomarCaRE consortium
AU - Oskarsson, Viktor
AU - Eliasson, Mats
AU - Salomaa, Veikko
AU - Reinikainen, Jaakko
AU - Männistö, Satu
AU - Palmieri, Luigi
AU - Donfrancesco, Chiara
AU - Sans, Susana
AU - Costanzo, Simona
AU - De Gaetano, Giovanni
AU - Iacoviello, Licia
AU - Veronesi, Giovanni
AU - Ferrario, Marco M.
AU - Padro, Teresa
AU - Thorand, Barbara
AU - Huth, Cornelia
AU - Zeller, Tanja
AU - Blankenberg, Stefan
AU - Anderson, Annie S.
AU - Tunstall-Pedoe, Hugh
AU - Kuulasmaa, Kari
AU - Söderberg, Stefan
N1 - Funding Information:
The BiomarCaRE project was funded by the European Union (EU) Seventh Framework Programme (FP7; 2007–2013) under grant agreement no. HEALTH-F2-2011-278913. The MORGAM Data Centre has also been sustained by recent funding from the EU FP7 project CHANCES (no. HEALTH-F3-2010-242244) and the EU Horizon 2020 projects euCanSHare (no. 825903) and AFFECT-EU (no. 847770). Parts of the 25(OH)D measurements were funded by the Medical Research Council London (G0601463, no. 80983: Biomarkers in the MORGAM Populations). The KORA study was initiated and financed by the Helmholtz Zentrum München and also supported within the Munich Center of Health Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, as part of the LMUinnovativ. The MONICA-Catalonia study was financed by the Institute of Health Studies, Catalan Department of Health. The SHHEC study was financed by the Scottish Health Department Chief Scientist Office, the British Heart Foundation and the FP Fleming Trust. V. O., M. E. and S. S. Ö. were supported by grants from: (1) the County Councils of Norrbotten and Västerbotten, (2) the Piteå Älvdals Hospital Foundation, (3) the Joint Committee of County Councils in northern Sweden and (4) Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. V. S. was supported by grants from the Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research.
PY - 2022/12/14
Y1 - 2022/12/14
N2 - Even though sunlight is viewed as the most important determinant of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status, several European studies have observed higher 25(OH)D concentrations among north-Europeans than south-Europeans. We studied the association between geographical latitude (derived from ecological data) and 25(OH)D status in six European countries using harmonised immunoassay data from 81 084 participants in the Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Risk Assessment in Europe (BiomarCaRE) project (male sex 48·9 %; median age 50·8 years; examination period 1984-2014). Quantile regression models, adjusted for age, sex, decade and calendar week of sampling and time from sampling to analysis, were used for between-country comparisons. Up until the median percentile, the ordering of countries by 25(OH)D status (from highest to lowest) was as follows: Sweden (at 65·6-63·8°N), Germany (at 48·4°N), Finland (at 65·0-60·2°N), Italy (at 45·6-41·5°N), Scotland (at 58·2-55·1°N) and Spain (at 41·5°N). From the 75th percentile and upwards, Finland had higher values than Germany. As an example, using the Swedish cohort as a comparator, the median 25(OH)D concentration was 3·03, 3·28, 5·41, 6·54 and 9·28 ng/ml lower in the German, Finnish, Italian, Scottish and Spanish cohort, respectively (P-value < 0·001 for all comparisons). The ordering of countries was highly consistent in subgroup analyses by sex, age, and decade and season of sampling. In conclusion, we confirmed the previous observation of a north-to-south gradient of 25(OH)D status in Europe, with higher percentile values among north-Europeans than south-Europeans.
AB - Even though sunlight is viewed as the most important determinant of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status, several European studies have observed higher 25(OH)D concentrations among north-Europeans than south-Europeans. We studied the association between geographical latitude (derived from ecological data) and 25(OH)D status in six European countries using harmonised immunoassay data from 81 084 participants in the Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Risk Assessment in Europe (BiomarCaRE) project (male sex 48·9 %; median age 50·8 years; examination period 1984-2014). Quantile regression models, adjusted for age, sex, decade and calendar week of sampling and time from sampling to analysis, were used for between-country comparisons. Up until the median percentile, the ordering of countries by 25(OH)D status (from highest to lowest) was as follows: Sweden (at 65·6-63·8°N), Germany (at 48·4°N), Finland (at 65·0-60·2°N), Italy (at 45·6-41·5°N), Scotland (at 58·2-55·1°N) and Spain (at 41·5°N). From the 75th percentile and upwards, Finland had higher values than Germany. As an example, using the Swedish cohort as a comparator, the median 25(OH)D concentration was 3·03, 3·28, 5·41, 6·54 and 9·28 ng/ml lower in the German, Finnish, Italian, Scottish and Spanish cohort, respectively (P-value < 0·001 for all comparisons). The ordering of countries was highly consistent in subgroup analyses by sex, age, and decade and season of sampling. In conclusion, we confirmed the previous observation of a north-to-south gradient of 25(OH)D status in Europe, with higher percentile values among north-Europeans than south-Europeans.
KW - 25-hydroxyvitamin D
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Europe
KW - Latitude
KW - Population-based
KW - Vitamin D
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121916814&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0007114521005080
DO - 10.1017/S0007114521005080
M3 - Article
C2 - 34933700
AN - SCOPUS:85121916814
SN - 0007-1145
VL - 128
SP - 2208
EP - 2218
JO - British Journal of Nutrition
JF - British Journal of Nutrition
IS - 11
ER -