Vitamin D deficiency (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) <50 nmol/L or 20 ng/mL) is common in Europe and the Middle East. It occurs in <20% of the population in Northern Europe, in 30-60% in Western, Southern and Eastern Europe and up to 80% in Middle East countries. Severe deficiency (serum 25(OH)D <30 nmol/L or 12 ng/mL) is found in >10% of Europeans. The European Calcified Tissue Society (ECTS) advises that the measurement of serum 25(OH)D be standardized, for example, by the Vitamin D Standardization Program. Risk groups include young children, adolescents, pregnant women, older people (especially the institutionalized) and non-Western immigrants. Consequences of vitamin D deficiency include mineralization defects and lower bone mineral density causing fractures. Extra-skeletal consequences may be muscle weakness, falls and acute respiratory infection, and are the subject of large ongoing clinical trials. The ECTS advises to improve vitamin D status by food fortification and the use of vitamin D supplements in risk groups. Fortification of foods by adding vitamin D to dairy products, bread and cereals can improve the vitamin D status of the whole population, but quality assurance monitoring is needed to prevent intoxication. Specific risk groups such as infants and children up to 3 years, pregnant women, older persons and non-Western immigrants should routinely receive vitamin D supplements. Future research should include genetic studies to better define individual vulnerability for vitamin D deficiency, and Mendelian randomization studies to address the effect of vitamin D deficiency on long-term non-skeletal outcomes such as cancer.

Bone Metabolism Unit Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS Milano Italy

Calcium Metabolism and Osteoporosis Program WHO Collaborating Center for Metabolic Bone Disorders American University of Beirut Medical Center Beirut Lebanon

Calcium Research Unit Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland

Clinic and Laboratory of Endocrinology Gasthuisberg KU Leuven Leuven Belgium

Cork Centre for Vitamin D and Nutrition Research School of Food and Nutritional Sciences Department of Medicine University College Cork Cork Ireland

Department of Geriatrics and Aging Research University Hospital and University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland

Division of Endocrinology and Diabetology Department of Internal Medicine Medical University Graz Graz Austria

Endocrine Section Department of Internal Medicine Amsterdam University Medical Center VUMC Amsterdam The Netherlands

Institute of Rheumatology Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org

The Impact of Psoriasis and Metabolic Syndrome on the Systemic Inflammation and Oxidative Damage to Nucleic Acids