effect of vitamin d levels on bone remodeling in healthy women

Background: vitamin d deficiency is prevalent among indian women. subclinical vitamin d deficiency is a significant risk factor for osteopenia and fractures. however, its effect on bone metabolism and bone mineral density (bmd) is still debatable. objectives: this study aimed to determine relationships of the vitamin d status with bone turnover markers, carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type-i collagen (ctx), n-terminal propeptide of type i procollagen (pinp), and bmd in healthy indian women. methods: in this cross-sectional study, we determined serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin d (25(oh)d), parathyroid hormone, serum ctx, and pinp using commercial elisa kits in 310 healthy indian women aged 25 - 65 years who underwent bmd measurements with dxa scan. results: the prevalence of vitamin d deficiency was 53.87% and vitamin d insufficiency 31.29%. a direct correlation of bmd with vitamin d levels was not observed. pinp negatively correlated with vitamin d in both premenopausal (spearman’s r = -0.169, p < 0.05) and postmenopausal (spearman’s r = -0.241, p < 0.05) women. however, ctx positively correlated with vitamin d in both premenopausal (spearman’s r = 0.228, p < 0.01) and postmenopausal (spearman’s r = 0.244, p < 0.05) women. conclusions: vitamin d deficiency is more prevalent in premenopausal women than in postmenopausal ones. although vitamin d does not show any association with bmd, it affects bone remodeling, which is reflected by changes in the bone formation marker pinp and the bone resorption marker ctx.