Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess whether there is a difference in bone resorption by degree of seasonal change in 25(OH)D and whether this varies by ethnicity. In the recent D-FINES study, (Vitamin D, Food Intake, Nutrition and Exposure to Sunlight in Southern England, 2006-2007), a subset of n=65 from the 293 participants (South Asian (n 30) and Caucasian (n 35)) had blood taken in four seasons for determination of 25(OH)D and serum c-telopeptide (sCTX). sCTX was measured using an electrochemiluminescent immunoassay (Roche cobas e411). Seasonal fluctuation of 25(OH)D was assessed by calculating differences between the winter (nadir) and summer (peak) 25(OH)D. For ease of interpretation these changes were expressed as positive values. This enabled investigation of the absolute change in 25(OH)D but not its direction. This variable was then split into quartiles within ethnicity. The dependent variables were absolute concentration of sCTX in each season as well as summer to winter change in sCTX. ANCOVA was run with absolute summer and winter 25(OH)D status, age, BMI, socioeconomic status, physical activity, and dietary calcium as covariates. In the Asian group there was no clear trend between degree of seasonal fluctuation and absolute sCTX. Indeed, only the autumn data was statistically significant (F=5.93; p= 0.01) and with no consistent pattern among the quartiles. No data were significant for change in summer to winter sCTX in Asians or Caucasians despite a trend in both ethnic groups for lower sCTX in the middle quartiles relative to the highest and lowest. Last, in Caucasians, there was a non-statistically significant (p.0.05) inverse trend between cycling of 25(OH)D and absolute serum C-telopeptide levels. These data suggest lower bone resorption in all seasons in Caucasians with increased cycling, and a reduction in sCTX between summer and winter in both ethnic groups in the middle quartile relative to the other quartiles. As the values were covariate adjusted, these findings are not likely to be due to other variables. However, it must be borne in mind that these results are only trends, which is likely due to the small numbers of subjects. Further research is required to analyse banked urine samples from the D-FINES study (n 293) which would enable us to see if these results are statistically significant with increased statistical power. The D-FINES study was funded by the UK Food Standards Agency. All views are those of the authors alone