| Abstract [eng] |
Past research showed that vitamin D (VitD) might influence vascular endothelial cells. However, there is a lack of data on how VitD impacts the metabolism of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) – the biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction – in young generally healthy men. The aim was to investigate how seasonal changes in serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] correlate with changes in serum soluble CAMs levels. Men aged 20–39 yrs. were randomly selected and examined twice at different seasons: in February or March (the cold season), and in August or September (the warm season). Laboratory blood tests including those for 25(OH)D and four soluble CAMs – ICAM-1 (intercellular adhesion molecule-1), VCAM-1 (vascular cell adhesion molecule-1), E-selectin and P-selectin levels, were performed. In addition, the associations of these biomarkers with some lifestyle and anthropometric parameters were evaluated. Significant independent associations of 25(OH)D with both VCAM-1 and P-selectin levels were found. The comparison of the data from separate study years showed some unexpected fluctuations of VCAM-1, ICAM-1 and E-selectin levels, encouraging the authors to seek possible relationships with the environmental factors, e.g., the geomagnetic activity (GMA). The associations of GMA that have been found with both VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 levels suggest that endothelial activity might be impacted not only by seasonal changes in VitD levels, but also by GMA fluctuations. |
