STUDY OF THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY, RELATED DISEASES AND CELL OXIDATIVE STRESS
Vitamin D, Oxidative Stress, Lipid peroxidation, Protein Oxidation, Sunlight.
1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D acts through a nuclear receptor to exert its various functions in cellular metabolism. In addition to participating directly in the homeostasis of calcium, Vitamin D has other functions, such as regulation of the immune system, nervous system, blood pressure, insulin secretion, among others. Vitamin D deficiency may be associated with numerous diseases and elevated cellular oxidative damage. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between vitamin D deficiency, lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation, as well as correlate vitamin D concentrations and oxidative stress with sun exposure, diet, age and conditions/diseases related to disability of vitamin D. For this, patients from the Heart Hospital (Natal/RN/Brazil) were invited to participate in the study. The vitamin D concentrations were consulted from the Heart Hospital database. Evaluations of lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation were carried out. In addition, the relationship between solar incidence and death rate for vitamin D deficiency related diseases was verified. Death rate data were extracted from the 'World Life Expectancy' repository and data on solar incidences were obtained from of NASA's Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy project - version 6.0. It was observed that patients with vitamin D deficiency had significantly higher concentrations of Malondialdehyde and carbonylated proteins when compared to sufficient vitamin D patients, regardless of age. In addition, sun exposure and a diet rich in vitamin D were associated with lower levels of lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation. Finally, insufficient/deficient vitamin D patients showed significantly more hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, neoplasms, hepatobiliary diseases and diseases of the urinary system. Data related to solar incidence showed that countries with high annual solar incidence have a lower rate of death due to multiple sclerosis and cancer.