Is there a relationship between vitamin D nutritional status and metabolic syndrome in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors? A PETALE study

Background: Treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cALL) has reached unprecedented success leading to survival rates reaching 90%. This is regrettably linked to increased risk of developing long-term health-related sequels into early adulthood. Objective: This study aims at assessing the relationship between the vitamin D status and metabolic biomarkers in PETALE, a well-characterized cohort of cALL survivors. Results: We demonstrate that 15.9% of the study participants exhibited 3 or more metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors. We also show a direct relationship between s25OHD(3) and plasma HDL-Cholesterol concentrations in female but not male participants. Conclusion: Our data, from a metabolically well-described cohort, support a modest role for vitamin D in lipid metabolism in childhood leukemia survivors. The major outcome of this study is the strong association between HDL-Cholesterol concentration and s25OHD(3) only in female subjects, thereby conveying vitamin D a gender-specific cardio-protective effect. cALL survivors represent a population at higher risk for secondary diseases. For this reason thorough nutritional evaluation, including vitamin D should be part of the regular follow-up. (C) 2019 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.