European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the serum vitamin D levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without nephropathy. Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional case control study conducted among 100 patients who attended OPD and IPD at the Department of Medicine, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore, over a period of 18 months from December 2020 to May 2022, after obtaining clearance from the institutional ethics committee and written informed consent from the study participants. Results: In comparison between diabetic nephropathy and non-diabetic nephropathy between both groups, a statistically significant difference (p<0.001) was noted between them with regard to serum creatinine, eGFR, UACR and vitamin D levels, suggesting that the diabetic nephropathic group has increased creatinine levels, highly reduced eGFR, highly elevated UACR and significantly decreased vitamin D levels, which are not present in the non-diabetic nephropathy patients. The eGFR and vitamin D levels were compared among the diabetic nephropathic subjects. The eGFR was split into three groups and by the ANOVA test measure, a significant association was obtained between them suggesting decreased eGFR also decreases vitamin D levels. On correlating vitamin D levels with serum creatinine and UACR a statistically significant (p<0.001) strong negative correlation was obtained (0.85 and 0.91) respectively. Conclusion: The study found that individuals with diabetic nephropathy had a higher prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency. However, at more advanced stages of diabetic kidney disease, their severity is more prevalent. Patients with CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) should get information from health care providers on vitamin D monitoring and its dietary sources.