{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T01:12:43Z","timestamp":1792804363738,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,17]],"date-time":"2025-12-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1765929600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Scientific Research Deanship at University of Ha\u2019il\u2014Saudi Arabia","award":["RG-23 044"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RG-23 044"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/013w98a82","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diseases"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objective: Diabetic nephropathy (DN), a key microvascular complication of type 2 diabetes (T2DM), drives significant morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to renal dysfunction, but its role in DN remains unclear. This study assessed the association between vitamin D status and DN versus T2DM without nephropathy. Methods: This cross-sectional hospital-based study included 399 participants (299 DN, 100 T2DM without nephropathy) at a tertiary endocrine clinic. Demographic, clinical, and biochemical data, including serum 25(OH)D, were collected. Chi-square and Mann\u2013Whitney compared categorical and continuous variables, respectively, and multinomial logistic regression assessed the association between vitamin D status and DN (p &lt; 0.05). Results: Patients with DN were older (58.2 \u00b1 7.95 vs. 51.4 \u00b1 9.94 years, p &lt; 0.001), had more advanced CKD (stages 2\u20133b: 84.6% vs. 20.0%, p &lt; 0.001), and higher albuminuria (moderate: 80.3% vs. 19.0%; severe: 18.4% vs. 0%, p &lt; 0.001). They also showed poorer glycemic control, elevated urea and creatinine, lower serum albumin, dyslipidemia, elevated liver enzymes, and higher uric acid (all p &lt; 0.05). Vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent in DN (37.7% vs. 8.0%, p &lt; 0.001). Unadjusted multinomial regression indicated that T2DM patients without nephropathy had a 91% lower risk of vitamin D deficiency (RRR 0.09; 95% CI 0.04\u20130.19, p &lt; 0.001) and an 87% lower risk of insufficiency (RRR 0.13; 95% CI 0.05\u20130.26, p &lt; 0.001) compared with DN patients. After adjusting for age, HbA1c, creatinine, duration of diabetes and eGFR, the reduced risk of deficiency remained significant (RRR 0.04; 95% CI 0.01\u20130.16, p &lt; 0.001), while the association with insufficiency was no longer significant (p = 0.310). Conclusions: This study shows a significant association between vitamin D deficiency and diabetic nephropathy, though its cross-sectional design precludes causal inference. Reverse causality and residual confounding cannot be excluded. Patients with DN had poorer glycemic control, dyslipidemia, and renal function, along with more frequent vitamin D deficiency. Routine vitamin D monitoring may support early detection and risk stratification in T2DM.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diseases13120405","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,17]],"date-time":"2025-12-17T10:41:23Z","timestamp":1765968083000},"page":"405","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Association of Vitamin D Deficiency with Diabetic Nephropathy in Type 2 Diabetes: A Hospital-Based Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Shafia","family":"Bashir","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar 190006, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5372-7794","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Geer Mohammad","family":"Ishaq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar 190006, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Insha","family":"Mushtaq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar 190006, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammad Ashraf","family":"Ganie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Endocrinology, Sheri-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar 190011, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Imtiyaz","family":"Wani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, Sheri-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar 190011, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-5006-1358","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muteb","family":"Alanazi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Hail, Hail 81442, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ibrahim","family":"Asiri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Quantitative Health Science, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Sciences, Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1588-2566","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arshad","family":"Hussain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Hail, Hail 81442, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1934-1521","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kashif Ullah","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Pharmacy & Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0926-2790","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sirajudheen","family":"Anwar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, University of Hail, Hail 81442, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jha, R., Lopez-Trevino, S., Kankanamalage, H.R., and Jha, J.C. 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