Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Cardiol. Jan 26, 2017; 9(1): 14-20
Published online Jan 26, 2017. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v9.i1.14
Vitamin D and acute myocardial infarction
Valentina Milazzo, Monica De Metrio, Nicola Cosentino, Giancarlo Marenzi, Elena Tremoli
Valentina Milazzo, Monica De Metrio, Nicola Cosentino, Giancarlo Marenzi, Elena Tremoli, Centro Cardiologico Monzino, I.R.C.C.S., 20138 Milan, Italy
Author contributions: All the authors contributed to the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Giancarlo Marenzi, MD, Centro Cardiologico Monzino, I.R.C.C.S., Via Parea 4, 20138 Milan, Italy. giancarlo.marenzi@ccfm.it
Telephone: +39-02-580021 Fax: +39-02-58002287
Received: July 7, 2016
Peer-review started: July 10, 2016
First decision: September 12, 2016
Revised: November 16, 2016
Accepted: November 27, 2016
Article in press: November 29, 2016
Published online: January 26, 2017
Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency is a prevalent condition, cutting across all ethnicities and among all age groups, and occurring in about 30%-50% of the population. Besides vitamin D established role in calcium homeostasis, its deficiency is emerging as a new risk factor for coronary artery disease. Notably, clinical investigations have suggested that there is an association between hypovitaminosis D and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Not only has it been linked to incident AMI, but also to increased morbidity and mortality in this clinical setting. Moreover, vitamin D deficiency seems to predispose to recurrent adverse cardiovascular events, as it is associated with post-infarction complications and cardiac remodeling in patients with AMI. Several mechanisms underlying the association between vitamin D and AMI risk can be involved. Despite these observational and mechanistic data, interventional trials with supplementation of vitamin D are controversial. In this review, we will discuss the evidence on the association between vitamin D deficiency and AMI, in terms of prevalence and prognostic impact, and the possible mechanisms mediating it. Further research in this direction is warranted and it is likely to open up new avenues for reducing the risk of AMI.

Keywords: Vitamin D, Acute myocardial infarction, Incidence, Prognosis

Core tip: Vitamin D deficiency is a prevalent condition and it is emerging as a new risk factor for coronary artery disease. Notably, hypovitaminosis D has been reported to be common in patients with acute myocardial infarction, and preliminary studies indicate a possible association with short-term and long-term morbidity and mortality. Although these observational initial proofs, interventional trials with supplementation of vitamin D have yielded controversial results. We herein discuss the current evidence suggesting an association between acute myocardial infarction and vitamin D deficiency, in terms of prevalence and prognostic impact, and the possible underlying mechanisms.