The relationship between vitamin D3 and BMI in women with Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia in the elderly and is associated with neurodevelopment of the human neocortex. Various studies have shown the importance of vitamin D and obesity in the development of this disease. Therefore, in this study, the serum level of vitamin D and body mass index (BMI) in Alzheimer's patients were analyzed and evaluated. Methods and Materials: In this study, 50 female patients with Alzheimer's disease (aged; 70.1±8.9) and 50 healthy women (aged: 69.3±8.7) were included as a control group. Serum vitamin D levels were measured using a specific ELISA kit. Individuals BMI were also calculated. The differences between the groups were examined by statistical tests. In statistical tests, p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: In this study, BMI in the patient group was significantly higher than the healthy group (25.45 ± 3.42 vs. 23.14 ±1.33; p < 0.001). In addition, serum levels of vitamin D in patients (m=19.53; IQR=13.95, 54.05) were significantly (with p = 0.0002) lower than in healthy individuals (m=39.06; IQR= 30.97, 44.15). On the other hand, in the control and patient groups, there was an inverse correlation between vitamin D and BMI, but this relationship was not significant.