ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the correlation between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D(25-OHVD)levels and the CD4+/CD8+ ratio in elderly men in different states of glucose metabolism.Methods Clinical data of 206 elderly male patients at the geriatrics department of our hospital from April 2011 to August 2017 were collected and retrospectively analyzed.There were 85 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM),39 patients with impaired glucose tolerance(IGT) and 82 patients with normal glucose tolerance(NGT).Locally weighted regression and multivariate generalized linear regression models were used to analyze the correlation between plasma 25-OHVD levels and the CD4+/CD8+ ratio.Results There were significant differences in two-hour postprandial blood glucose and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance(HOMA-IR) between the NGT,IGT and T2DM groups (6.5 mmol/L,9.2 mmol/L vs.11.0 mmol/L,11.92 ± 10.57,16.46 ± 10.89 vs.32.67±7.39,respectively,P ＜0.01).Fasting plasma glucose and 2-hour postprandial insulin levels were higher in the IGT and T2DM groups than in the NGT group(5.1 mmol/L,6.3 mmol/L vs.4.9 mmol/L,440.5 nmol/L,367.8 nmol/L vs.255.4 nmol/L,P＜0.05).The haemoglobin A1c(HbA1c)level was higher in the T2DM group than in the NGT and IGT groups(7.1％ vs.5.5％ and 5.8％,P＜0.05).The 25-OHVD and CD4+ levels in the T2DM group were lower than those in the NGT and IGTgroups[11.6 μg/L vs.18.3 μg/L and 17.4 μg/L,(34.0±11.8)％ vs.(40.7±10.5)％ and (40.7±10.2)％,P＜0.01],but were not significantly different between the NGT and IGT groups(P ＞0.05).The CD4+/CD8+ ratios in the T2DM and IGT groups were not significantly different from each other(1.4 vs.1.6,P＞0.05),but were lower than that in the NGT group(2.7,P＜0.01).After adjusting for the influence of related confounders,CD4+/CD8+ increased by 0.4 on average with each standard deviation(7.62 μg/L)increase of 25-OHVD.Compared with 25-OHVD patients in the first quartile,CD4+/CD8+ in the second,third and fourth quartile increased by 0.7,0.9 and 1.1 respectively on average,showing a significant positive correlation and a significant linear trend in the level of 25-OHVD and the CD4+/CD8+ ratio(P＜0.01).Conclusions With the aggravation of glucose tolerance,plasma 25-OHVD levels and the CD4+/CD8+ ratio decrease by varying degrees in elderly men.The deficiency of plasma 25-OHVD may be an independent risk factor for a low CD4+ /CD8+ ratio.