Relation of Low Vitamin D Levels and New-onset AF Among Hypertensive Patients

Atrial fibrillation (AF), an important cause of cardiac mortality and morbidity is the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice. Hypertensive individuals are at particular risk of development of atrial fibrillation. Renin-angiotensin-aldosteron system (RAS) which is activated in hypertension may be the underlying mechanism of AF among hypertensive patients.

Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and obesity. Increased RAS activity is one of the postulated mechanisms by which vitamin D deficiency may trigger the development of hypertension and various cardiovascular diseases. On the basis of these data we hypothesized that hypovitaminosis D might be associated with new-onset AF among patients with hypertension.