Association between vitamin D concentration and levels of sex hormones in an elderly Polish population with different genotypes of VDR polymorphisms (rs10735810, rs1544410, rs7975232, rs731236)

Background Vitamin D co-regulates the synthesis of sex hormones in part by interaction with its nuclear receptor. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is an association of vitamin D concentration vs the level of sex hormones in elderly Polish individuals with different genotypes of the vitamin D receptor ( VDR ) gene. Materials and methods Rs10735810, rs1544410, rs7975232, and rs731236 polymorphisms of VDR , the serum sex hormone level, free estrogen index (FEI) and free androgen index (FAI) as well as vitamin D, were evaluated in 766 persons (362 women and 404 men) selected from 5695 Polish population, aged 65–90 years from the PolSenior survey. Results We observed that women with GG (rs731236), TT (rs7975232), BB (rs1544410) and FF (rs10735810) genotypes were characterized by a significant correlation between vitamin D vs testosterone concentration and FAI value. We found a significant correlation between testosterone level and FAI vs vitamin D concentration in men with heterozygote AG in the rs731236 polymorphism and in the GG (rs7975232), the BB (rs1544410), and the Ff (rs10735810) genotypes. Conclusion In elderly selected Polish population with different genotypes of VDR polymorphisms, a statistically significant relationship between vitamin D concentration vs testosterone level was observed.