Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency and its Relation with Bone Mineral Density in HIV/AIDS Patients

Aim: In addition to immune regulation, vitamin D has the most important role in bone health. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its relation with bone mineral density (BMD) in HIV-infected patients. Materials and Methods: Ninety-six HIV/AIDS patients were analyzed between April-November 2011. Age, gender, antiretroviral treatment, CD4 cell count, HIV-RNA, BMD, 25(OH)D measurement of patients were collected retrospectively from medical records. Plasma 25(OH)D level was measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay and were assigned to be deficient, insufficient and sufficient, <25 nmol/ml, 25-50 nmol/ml and >50nmol/ml, respectively. The patients were diagnosed as osteopenic, osteoporotic or normal by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry measurements according to World Health Organization criteria. Analyses were performed using SPSS version 13.0. Results: Median age was 40.1 years (range, 20-70), 82% were male, mean plasma HIV-RNA was 5.2 +/- 1.0 log10 copies/ml and CD4 lymphocyte was 440.9 +/- 215.7/rmn(3), 80.2% were treated with antiretroviral agents. Of total 15% had deficient, 69% had insufficient 25(OH)D levels. Osteopenia and osteoporosis were diagnosed in 50% and 26%, respectively. No interrelation between osteopenia/osteoporosis and 25(OH)D levels was shown statistically (p=0.283). Conclusion: Whereas no interrelation between osteopenia+osteoporosis and 25(OH)D levels was shown statistically, vitamin D deficiency was twice more in osteopenia+osteoporosis group than in BMD normal group. Review of bone health should become part of routine care for all HIV infected patients to prevent fractures.