@article {742261,
	title = {Positive Association between Blood 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Pterygium after Control for Sunlight Exposure.},
	journal = {PLoS One},
	volume = {11},
	number = {6},
	year = {2016},
	month = {2016},
	pages = {e0157501},
	abstract = {PURPOSE: To investigate the association between blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and pterygium. METHODS: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008-2011 were used for the present epidemiologic study. A total of 19,178 participants aged >= 30 years were evaluated for blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and performed ophthalmic slit lamp examinations. Pterygium was considered as a growth of fibrovascular tissue over the cornea. RESULTS: The average blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were 18.6 ng/mL, and prevalence of pterygium was 6.5\%. The odds of pterygium significantly increased across blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D quintiles after controlling sun exposure time as well as other confounders such as sex, age, smoking, diabetes, hypertension (P \&lt; 0.001). The odds ratios (OR) for pterygium was 1.51 (95\% Confidence Interval[95\%CI]; 1.19-1.92) in the highest blood vitamin D quintile. Stratified analysis by sex showed a positive association between blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and pterygium in both men (quintile 5 versus 1, OR; 1.68, 95\%CI; 1.19-2.37) and women (quintile 5 versus 1, OR; 1.37, 95\% CI; 1.00-1.88). CONCLUSIONS: Even after controlling sun light exposure time, we found a positive association between blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and pterygium in a representative Korean population. The mechanism underlying this association is unknown.},
	issn = {1932-6203},
	doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0157501},
	author = {Jee, Donghyun and Kim, Eun Chul and Cho, Eunyoung and Arroyo, Jorge G}
}
