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It has been suggested that identifying phenotypes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) might improve treatment outcome and the accuracy of prediction of prognosis. In observational studies vitamin D deficiency has been associated with decreased pulmonary function, presence of emphysema and osteoporosis, upper respiratory tract infections, and systemic inflammation. This could indicate a relationship between vitamin D status and COPD phenotypes. The aim of this study was to assess the association between vitamin D levels and COPD phenotypes. In addition, seasonality of vitamin D levels was examined.

METHODS: A total of 91 patients from a Danish subpopulation of the "Evaluation of COPD Longitudinally to Identify Predictive Surrogate End-points" cohort took part in a biomarker substudy. Vitamin D concentration was measured from blood samples taken at two visits, approximately 6 months apart. The participants were 40-75-year-old patients with COPD and had a smoking history of >10 pack-years.

RESULTS: Fifty-six patients had 25-hydroxyvitamin D measured from blood samples from both visits. In the final model of the multivariate analyses, the factors that were associated with vitamin D deficiency at the first visit were age (OR: 0.89, p = 0.02) and summer season (OR: 3.3, p = 0.03). Factors associated with vitamin D level also at the first visit were age (B: 0.9, p = 0.02) and 6 min walking distance (B: 0.05, p = 0.01).

CONCLUSION: Vitamin D was not associated with COPD phenotypes and season did not seem to be a determinant of vitamin D levels in patients with moderate to severe COPD.