Background & Aim Dyslipidaemia is highly prevalent among
postmenopausal women and its management represents a
keystone in the prevention of the worldwide increase in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Therapy choices for menopause-associated dyslipidaemia are limited and a matter of
debate. So, it becomes prudent to search for natural safe alternatives. Vitamin D (VD) has been acknowledged as an essential
factor in cardiovascular health. Thus, we aimed to illustrate the
impact of different VD status on dyslipidaemia and atherogenic indices.
Method 5 groups of rats were conducted; SHAM group fed
control diet, ovariectomized rats fed control diet (OVX), ovariectomized rats fed VD-sufficient-high fat diet (HFD) (1000IU/
Kg diet), ovariectomized rats fed VD-deficient-HFD (25 IU/ kg
diet), and ovariectomized rats fed VD-replete-HFD (10000 IU/
kg diet) for 16 weeks.
Results Dyslipidaemia with an increased atherogenic index of
plasma, atherosclerosis coefficient, cardiac risk ratio, and aortic total cholesterol accumulation in addition to reduced serum
25-hydroxy-VD levels was observed in the OVX and VD-sufficient HFD versus SHAM. These findings were aggravated by
VD-deficient-HFD while reversed by VD-replete-HFD. The VDmediated abundance of aortic ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) expression, reduced activity of the inflammatory Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK), and downregulation of
aortic cluster of differentiation-36 (CD36) receptors expression
together with increased serum total antioxidant capacity and
reduced serum malondialdehyde were among the supposed
mechanisms.
Conclusions Our study sheds light on alarming levels of VD
deficiency among ovariectomized rats. VD repletion improved
the menopause-associated dyslipidaemia and atherogenic indices through hypolipidemic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effect