Severe vitamin D deficiency is associated with emphysema progression in male patients with COPD

Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D levels also correlate with lung function in patients with COPD. However, there are few reports on vitamin D deficiency and emphysema severity in COPD. This study aimed to investigate the effects of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) level on emphysema severity in male COPD patients. Methods: A total of 151 male subjects were selected from the Korean Obstructive Lung Disease (KOLD) cohort. Subjects were subdivided into four subgroups according to their baseline plasma 25-OHD level: sufficiency (≥20 ng/ml), mild deficiency (15–20 ng/ml), moderate deficiency (10–15 ng/ml), and severe deficiency (<10 ng/ml). Results: Baseline computed tomography (CT) emphysema indices revealed significant differences among the subgroups (p = 0.034). A statistically significant difference was also observed among the subgroups regarding change in the CT emphysema index over 3 years (p = 0.047). The annual increase in emphysema index was more prominent in the severe deficiency group (1.34% per year) than in the other groups (0.41% per year) (p = 0.003). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that CT emphysema indices were different among the four subgroups and supports that severe vitamin D deficiency is associated with rapid progression of emphysema in male patients with COPD.