Serum vitamin D levels and chronic refractory wounds: Unveiling of association and exploration of potential molecular mechanisms.

Authors

Guowei Zhou, Jia Fu, Qirui Xiong, Bing'e Ma, Chaoqun Ma

Published in

Clinical and investigative medicine. Medecine clinique et experimentale. Pages e20250211. Aug 07, 2026. Epub Aug 07, 2026.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the link between serum vitamin D levels and chronic refractory wounds (CRWs) using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data, as the exact relationship and molecular mechanisms have not been fully understood.
This study included a cohort of 5,415 adult participants with complete data on serum vitamin D, CRW prevalence, and other pertinent covariates. To evaluate the associations between serum vitamin D levels and CRW prevalence, weighted logistic regression analysis, restricted cubic spline (RCS) models, and subgroup analyses were applied. Network pharmacology and molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) analyses were then performed to elucidate the potential pathways and key targets involved in vitamin D-mediated wound healing.
After controlling for all confounding variables, a significant inverse relationship was identified between serum vitamin D levels and CRW prevalence. When stratifying serum vitamin D levels into quartiles, individuals in the highest quartile exhibited an approximately 37% reduced risk of CRW (P = 0.04) compared to those in the lowest quartile. RCS analysis indicated a linear dose-response relationship across serum vitamin D levels (P for nonlinearity = 0.328). This inverse association was consistently observed across various population subgroups. Furthermore, network pharmacology analysis suggested that vitamin D may influence wound healing through various targets and pathways, notably the AGE-RAGE, IL-17, and PI3K-Akt signalling pathways.
Our findings underscore a significant correlation between lower serum vitamin D levels and an increased risk of developing CRW. Vitamin D intake may constitute a modifiable lifestyle factor associated with CRW.

PMID:
42566194
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.