Alzheimer disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by its gradual progression. At present, the cause and mechanism of AD are yet unclear, and there is no effective therapy for treating it. With development of global aging, the prevalence rate of AD is increasing. The life quality of elderly people is affected severely by AD that is ultimately life-threatening. Recently, study on treating AD with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has deepened.

Objective:To investigate the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH) D] levels in elderly patients with hip and vertebral compression fractures (VCF).Method:Ninety patients (58 males and 32 females) aged over 60 years with hip fracture and 120 patients (88 males and 32 females) aged over 60 years with VCF admitted in the Aviation General Hospital from January 2017 to June 2019 were enrolled. Serum 25(OH)D levels were measured.Results:Serum level of 25 (OH) D in hip fracture patients was (9.0±6.8) μg/L, the 25 (OH) D level was lower than the normal value(<19.0 μg/L)in 79 patients and<3 μg/L in 24 patients. The level of 25(OH)D in VCF patients was (16.7±10.6) μg/L, the 25 (OH) D level was<19.0 μg/L in 78 patients (65.0%) and <3 μg/L in 10 patients (8.3%). The low level of 25(OH)D was negatively correlated with age in two groups ( r=-0.367, P=0.01; r=-0.313, P=0.04). The mean level of 25 (OH) D in the hip fracture group was lower than that in the VCF group ( t=5.960, P<0.01), and the low 25(OH)D rate in the former group was significantly higher than that in the latter group (χ 2=14.14, P<0.01; χ 2=12.74, P<0.01). The 25(OH)D value of female VCF patients was (14.5±8.8) μg/L, which was significantly lower than that of male patients (22.5±12.9) μg/L ( t=3.882, P<0.01).Among hip fracture patients, the 25(OH)D level in patients with fracture history was (8.3±6.9) μg/L, which was significantly lower than that of patients without fracture history (10.8±6.9) μg/L, and the difference was statistically significamt ( t=2.123, P=0.04). The serum osteocalcin level was (20.5±19.8) μg/L in patients with fracture history, which was significantly higher than that in patients without fracture history [(10.6±5.4) μg/L, t=3.245, P<0.01]. Conclusion:Elderly patients with new hip fractures have more severely low vitamin D level than patients with new VCF, and patients with previous fracture history have lower vitamin D levels than patients without fracture history.