The Association of Serum Vitamin D Levels with Pseudoexfoliation

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether serum vitamin D levels have an effect on pseudoexfoliation (PEX) glaucoma/syndrome development and on the control of glaucoma in these cases.

Method: A total of 31 cases with PEX glaucoma, 34 cases with the PEX syndrome and 43 control subjects of similar age and sex were included in the study. Vitamin D levels were compared between the groups and also between the cases where glaucoma surgery was performed or not.

Results: PEX glaucoma group consisted of 17 males and 14 females, PEX syndrome group of 27 males and 7 females, and the control group of 27 males and 16 females. The mean age was 70.9 +/- 8.9 years, 72.1 +/- 7.3 years, and 67.9 +/- 9.1 years in PEX glaucoma, syndrome and control group, respectively. Mean vitamin D levels were 9.4 +/- 7.7 ng/mL, 7.9 +/- 6,1 ng/mL, 11.5 +/- 14.2 ng/mL in PEX glaucoma, syndrome and control group, respectively (p>0.05). The mean serum vitamin D level was 8.04 +/- 4.7 ng/mL in those who underwent glaucoma surgery and 10.1 +/- 8.7 ng/mL in those who didn't undergo glaucoma surgery in PEX glaucoma group (p>0.05). No difference was found between the PEX glaucoma subgroups in terms of the mean deviation when classified according to vitamin D levels (<10 ng/mL, >= 10 ng/mL) (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Although we found no statistically significant difference between the PEX syndrome/glaucoma, and control group in terms of serum vitamin D levels, serum vitamin D levels were lower in PEX syndrome and glaucoma group than control group. Our results indicate that serum vitamin D levels have no effect on the development of PEX glaucoma/syndrome or the control of the disorder in cases with PEX glaucoma. However, these results need to be supported with further studies on a larger number of patients and with longer follow-up.