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Vitamin D, chronic pain, and depression: linear and non-linear Mendelian randomization analyses

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Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Gjekmarkaj, Eva 
Zhao, Sizheng Steven  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3558-7353

Abstract

jats:titleAbstract</jats:title>jats:pVitamin D deficiency has been linked to various chronic pain conditions. However, randomized trials of vitamin D supplementation have had mixed results. In contrast, systematic reviews of randomized trials indicate a protective effect of vitamin D supplementation on depression. We undertake a Mendelian randomization investigation in UK Biobank, a study of UK residents aged 40-65 at recruitment. We perform linear and non-linear Mendelian randomization analyses for four outcomes: fibromyalgia, clinical fatigue, chronic widespread pain, and probable lifetime major depression. We use genetic variants from four gene regions with known links to vitamin D biology as instruments. In linear analyses, genetically-predicted levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], a clinical marker of vitamin D status, were not associated with fibromyalgia (odds ratio [OR] per 10 nmol/L higher 25(OH)D 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.93, 1.12), clinical fatigue (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.94, 1.05), chronic widespread pain (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.89, 1.02), or probable lifetime major depression (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.93, 1.01). In non-linear analyses, an association was observed between genetically-predicted 25(OH)D levels and depression in the quintile of the population with the lowest 25(OH)D levels (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.59, 0.94); associations were null in other strata. Our findings suggest that population-wide vitamin D supplementation will not substantially reduce pain or depression; however, targeted supplementation of deficient individuals may reduce risk of depression.</jats:p>

Description

Acknowledgements: AMM is supported by core funding from the British Heart Foundation (RG/18/13/33946), Cambridge British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence (RE/18/1/34212), British Heart Foundation Chair Award (CH/12/2/29428), and by Health Data Research UK. SSZ is supported by a National Institute for Health Research Clinical Lectureship, the Pain Relief Foundation, and works in centres supported by Versus Arthritis (grant no. 21173, 21754 and 21755). SB is supported by the Wellcome Trust (225790/Z/22/Z) and the United Kingdom Research and Innovation Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00002/7). This research was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR203312). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Keywords

Journal Title

Translational Psychiatry

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2158-3188

Volume Title

14

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (Wellcome) (225790/Z/22/Z)
RCUK | Medical Research Council (MRC) (MC_UU_00002/7)
DH | National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (NIHR203312, Clinical Lectureship)