Insulin resistance in Saudi postmenopausal women with and without metabolic syndrome and its association with vitamin D deficiency.

Background: There is increasing interest in the non-skeletal effects of vitamin D and the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus. We aimed to investigate the relationship between surrogate indices of insulin resistance (IR), and vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency in postmenopausal Saudi women with and without metabolic syndrome.
Methods: The study population consisted of 300 postmenopausal women aged 46-88 years enrolled consecutively from women attending the Outpatient Clinics of King Abdulaziz University Hospital. Demographic, anthropometric, and biochemical parameters were recorded. Data were analyzed for women with and without metabolic syndrome.
Results: Abdominal obesity, IR, and hypovitaminosis D were highly prevalent within our population sample. Of the components used to define metabolic syndrome; waist circumference, serum triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were significantly related with all surrogate measures of IR. Significant inverse correlations were found between serum vitamin D and serum TG, FBG, and diastolic blood pressure, within the study cohort.
Conclusions: These observations suggest that hypovitaminosis D may be associated with the risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Interrelationships between IR, metabolic syndrome, and hypovitaminosis D are of particular interest in Saudi population, given the high prevalence of these conditions in this region.