The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) continues to climb in many parts of the globe in association with the rise in Obesity. In parallel to the increase in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, evidence indicates a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency Worldwide. Areas with high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency have been associated with a higher prevalence of diabetes. The reported prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among subjects with Type 2 diabetes mellitus

more »

... nges from 63.5% to 91.1%. Most studies on vitamin D status among Diabetes mellitus subjects involved Caucasians. Data on this subject matter is scarce in Africa. Materials and methods: This study was conducted between the months of May and August (Rainy/winter season) at the Diabetes clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Lagos, Nigeria. It was an analytical cross-sectional study. A total of 114 eligible type 2 diabetes mellitus participants and 60 healthy controls participated. All participants were clinically assessed and blood samples for relevant investigations taken. Serum vitamin D level was analyzed using the High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. Results: The mean age was 52 ± 7.6 years in the T2DM group and 50 ± 8.4 in the control group, (p = 0.9). The female to male ratio in both T2DM and healthy control subjects was 1.5:1. Majority of the study subjects had vitamin D deficiency with prevalence of 72 (63.2%) in T2DM subjects and 32 (53.3%) in the controls (p = NS). There was no significant difference in the distribution of Vitamin D3 deficiency status by age or sex in both T2DM and Control groups. The mean serum vitamin D level in T2DM subjects with vitamin D deficiency was 9.2 ± 1.1 ng/dl and 21.5 ± 0.7 ng/dl in the sufficient group (t = 11.9, p = 0.0001). The mean HbA1c and Fasting plasma glucose were higher in the vitamin D deficient group compared to the sufficient group (7.5 ± 1.9% and 148 ± 60.9 mg/dl vs. 6.8 ± 1.6% and 134 ± 43.5 mg/dl respectively, p NS). The proportion of subjects with good glycaemic control (HbA1C f 7.0%) was significantly higher in the vitamin D sufficient group 19 (73.1%) compared to the vitamin D deficient group, 33 (45.8%), Z = -2.39, p = 0.01). Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is common among the participants in this study. This alludes to the widespread vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in both apparently healthy populations and patients with various pathologies including diabetes mellitus. The season of study (rainy/winter) may have contributed to the low levels of vitamin D among the participants.