(P27-037-23) Vitamin D and Calcium Status Are Related to Pain, Physical Functioning, and Related Brain Regions in Community Dwelling Older Adults

Objectives: Chronic pain is a significant problem in society, especially in the aging population. Here, we sought to investigate the relationships that Vitamin D and calcium have with various self-reported pain, disability and health related measures, quantitative sensory testing, physical functioning, and brain structure.

Methods: Participants over the age of 65 with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis were recruited from the community and completed demographic self-report questionnaires, pain and health-related questionnaires, the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), and Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST), a blood draw, and as well as an MRI  scan on the whole brain.

Results: There were significant correlations between calcium and physical functioning tasks such as balance. Those with optimal levels of calcium were able to detect vibratory stimuli at lower thresholds and withstand greater amounts of pressure in the rectus femoris.  Those with optimal levels of Vitamin D reported less role limitations due to their physical and mental health, less knee pain, and completed the walking task faster. Finally, there we significant associations of Vitamin D status with multiple volumetric brain analyses in many areas.  These areas, including (but not limited to) the insula, post-central gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus, have been shown to be involved in pain processing and transmission.  Interestingly, this research replicated the findings of associations previously reported between Vitamin D and pain-related brain regions in an entirely different sample.

Conclusions: Evidence suggests that Vitamin D and calcium may contribute to the pain experience and unhealthy aging by affecting both pain severity as well as enhancing/impairing physical functioning.  Additionally, Vitamin D may, in part, be modifying brain structure in pain-related regions, potentially creating an environment for dysfunctional and exacerbated pain transmission and interpretation therein.

Funding Sources: This work was supported by NIH/NIA Grant 5R01AG067757 (YCA). A portion of this work was performed in the McKnight Brain Institute at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory’s Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy (AMRIS) Facility, which is supported by National Science Foundation Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-1157490 and DMR-1644779 and the State of Florida.