PATIENTS WITH COLORECTAL CANCER HAVE PROFOUND DEFICIENCY OF VITAMIN D

Background:

Vitamin D plays an important role in a number of physiological functions including calcium absorption, bone metabolism, immune function, muscle function and cellular regulation. Numerous clinical studies have shown that vitamin D has significant protective effect against the development of cancer. We studied changes in 25(OH)D serum concentrations at different temperature storage conditions. Subsequently we measured 25(OH)D serum con­centration in 100 healthy individuals and 281 patients with colorectal cancer.

Materials and methods:

Blood samples were taken in sample tube without an­ticoagulant (Sarstedt, catalog number 01.1728.001). After centrifugation (1,500 g, 15 °C, 20 min), separated serum was pipetted into 3 test tubes. 25(OH)D was measured 1) immediately after serum separation 2) after 3 weeks of freezing at -80 °C 3) after 3 weeks of freezing at -30 °C. 25(OH)D serum concentrations were measured using Architect i2000sr (Abbott) analyzer.

Results:

We didn't find any significant concentration changes of 25(OH)D in 100 samples at various temperature storage conditions. In the group of healthy individuals median of 25(OH)D concentration was 55.35 nmol/l (range within 21.7-116.4 nmol/l), yielding reference range 30-90 nmol/l (95% confidence interval). In the group of colorectal cancer patients median of 25(OH)D was 26.1 nmol/l (range wi­thin 0-84.7 nmol/l).

Conclusion:

The CMIA method proved to be robust and stable for clinical determination of serum 25(OH)D levels. In colorectal cancer patients we observed profound deficiency of vitamin D.

This study was funded by European Regional Development Fund and State budget of the Czech Republic (RECAMO: CZ 1.05/2.1.00/03.0101) and by Ministry of Edu­cation, Youth and Sports (BBMRI: LM2010004).