25-hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Body Mass Index in Healthy Postmenopausal Women

Copyright © 2012. Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology Vitamin D (VtD) endocrine system is associated with obesity. The relationship between VtD and body fat was described originally by Lumb et al. [1]. Subsequently murine experiment and human study revealed that body fat is the major storage site of vitamin D3 and the source for other VtD metabolites during deprivation as well [2,3]. The reasons of VtD insuffi ciency in obese people have been postulated to several factors such as a decrease exposure to sunlight because of low activity level, a negative feedback from elevated active VtD metabolite 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels on hepatic synthesis of 25-OHD [4], and the metabolic clearance of VtD may increase in obesity with enhanced uptake by adipose tissue [5]. Recently, Worstman et al. [6] also demonstrated that obesity-associated VtD insuffi ciency most likely ORIGINAL ARTICLE