Evidence mapPaperPMID 39980554Full record

ArticleFrontiers in oncology2025

Hypovitaminosis D in patients with oral leukoplakia: insights from a cross-sectional study.

Andrea Maturana-Ramirez, Juan Aitken-Saavedra, Dante Mora-Ferraro, Gabriel Rojas-Zúñiga, Iris Espinoza-Santander, Gonzalo Rojas-Alcayaga, Ana Ortega-Pinto, Montserrat Reyes, Diego Lazo, Egardo Caamanão

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Andrea Maturana-RamirezDepartment of Oral Pathology and Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Juan Aitken-SaavedraDepartment of Oral Pathology and Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Dante Mora-FerraroDentist, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Gabriel Rojas-ZúñigaDepartment of Oral Pathology and Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Iris Espinoza-SantanderDepartment of Oral Pathology and Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Gonzalo Rojas-AlcayagaDepartment of Oral Pathology and Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Ana Ortega-PintoDepartment of Oral Pathology and Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Montserrat ReyesDepartment of Oral Pathology and Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Diego LazoTherapeutic Diagnostic Center Odontology and Pathological Anatomy Service, Hospital Complex San Jose, Santiago, Chile.
Egardo CaamanãoLaboratory of Endocrinology and Reproductive Biology of the Clinical Hospital, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Oral leukoplakia is one of the most frequent oral potentially malignant disorders. The present study aims to compare serum vitamin D levels between patients with and without oral leukoplakia, by smoking habit. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved a group of 45 cases with oral leukoplakia and a control group with 45 individuals. In both groups a pathology report was done, and for leukoplakia a binary classification of low- and high-grade epithelial dysplasia was employed. Serum 25(OH)D3 vitamin D levels, and data on smoking status, age, gender, comorbidities, and clinical and pathological characteristics were collected for both groups. Results: vitamin D levels were lower in the oral leukoplakia group with a median of 19.1 ng/ml, while the control group had a median of 24.8 ng/ml. When subdividing each group by smoking habit, the smoking case group had a median of 19.4 ng/ml (IQR: 15.7-21.5 ng/ml), the non-smoking case group had 18.8 ng/ml (IQR: 13.6-29.2 ng/ml), the smoking control group had 21.8 ng/ml (IQR: 17.5-27.3 ng/ml), and the non-smoking control group had 25.4 ng/ml (IQR: 20.4-32.9 ng/ml) (p<0.05). When comparing serum vitamin D levels, statistically significant differences were found between the smoking case group versus the non-smoking control group and between the non-smoking case group versus the non-smoking control group (p<0.05). Serum vitamin D levels by histopathological diagnosis showed no differences between leukoplakia groups. Discussion: This study shows that serum vitamin D levels were lower in patients with OL compared to those without OL, which was more evident in the smoking group. Patients with OL were previously observed to have hypovitaminosis D, without assessing smoking habits. This finding suggests a possible role of vitamin D deficiency in the development of OL, which could be more marked in smokers. This opens the possibility of future research on vitamin D as a chemopreventive agent in the malignant transformation of OL, and to evaluate the relationship between smoking and hypovitaminosis D.

Indexed as

calcitrioloral canceroral leukoplakiaoral squamous cell carcinomasmokervitamin D

Identifiers

PMID39980554
PMCPMC11839706

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.