SERUM VITAMIN D LEVELS IN DIFFERENT MORPHOLOGIC FORMS OF AGE RELATED CATARACT

Purpose. Vitamin D insufficiency and age related cataract (ARC) are public health problems. We evaluated serum vitamin D levels in ARC patients. Method. A prospective hospital-based cross-sectional study was designed to measure the vitamin D status of patients with ARC. Patients have grouped either presence of any type of posterior subcapsular cataract (PSC) (group 1) or ARC without the PSC component (Group 2). After full ophthalmologic consideration, patients over 40 years of age with no history of ocular trauma, multivitamin supplement ingestion, chronic renal failure, thyroidectomy, parathyroidectomy, skin cancer, and cigarette smoking were included in the study. Results. Totally, 79 subjects of which 26 (32.9%) subjects in group 1 and 53 (67.1%) subjects in group 2 were included in the study. Group 1 had mean vitamin D levels of 17.31 +/- 13.30 ng/mL. Vitamin D levels in Group 2 were 13.34 +/- 7.87 ng/mL. Group 1 did not show vitamin D insufficiency (P = 0.31; one-sample t-test). However, Group 2 showed a statistically significantly lower vitamin D level compared to the insufficiency level of 20ng/mL (P= 0.00; one-sample t-test). Conclusion. Vitamin D may have an important function in lens metabolism. Vitamin D deficiency and cataract development need further extensive researches.