Serum calcium levels are not associated with coronary heart disease

Abstract

Background

Numerous studies have reported that low calcium intake is related to a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease. However, the relationship between serum calcium and coronary heart disease is unclear. The purpose of this study was to compare serum calcium levels in patients with coronary heart disease and those in healthy individuals.

Methods

This retrospective, case-control study conducted in the People’s Republic of China comprised 380 cases and 379 controls. Serum calcium levels, blood lipids, and anthropometric measurements were measured in both groups. The Student’s unpaired t-test or Chi-square test was used to compare differences between cases and controls. Pearson’s partial correlation coefficient was used to determine the association between serum calcium, blood lipids, and blood pressure in both groups.

Results

Our results indicate that the average level of serum calcium in cases was higher than in controls. Serum calcium levels showed no correlation with any parameter except for triglycerides in either group.

Conclusion

Overall, these data suggest that serum calcium has no influence on coronary heart disease or triglyceride levels in the general population.

Keywords:

• serum calcium
• hypertension
• blood lipids

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81072367), the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (090413126 and 1308085MH135), and the Provincial Natural Science Research Project of Anhui Colleges (KJ2008A098) and Wannan Medical key scientific research projects Engagement Fund (WK2013Z01).

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.