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Arterial calcification unchanged by high-dose vitamin D supplements
Daily vitamin D supplementation does not influence the progression of arterial calcification or increase the likelihood that the condition will develop, according to findings presented at the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research annual meeting.
“Our findings are consistent with a growing body of research showing that, in healthy adults who do not have vitamin D deficiency, supplementation with high doses of vitamin D — ie, more than 400 IU per day — did not appear to have any influence on the vascular calcification we can detect with our instrument, and suggest that these doses of vitamin D are not likely to reduce the progression of cardiovascular disease or the risk of cardiovascular events associated with vascular calcification,” Emma Billington, BSc, MD, a clinical assistant professor at the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health at the Cumming School of Medicine of the University of Calgary in Canada, told Endocrine Today.
Billington and colleagues analyzed data from 311 adults (mean age, 62 years; 46% women) who were randomly assigned to 3-year regimens of 400 IU, 4,000 IU or 10,000 IU of daily vitamin D. Before study initiation, all participants had a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 30 nmol/L to 125 nmol/L. Calcification of the distal tibia artery was assessed via high-resolution peripheral quantitative CT at baseline and every 6 months for the first year and then annually for the last 2 years of the study.
The researchers found that 28% of the cohort had arterial calcification at baseline. Despite noting that there was a monthly calcification increase of 0.02 mg of hydroxyapatite among these participants, the researchers wrote that there was “no evidence of a treatment group effect on change in arterial calcification over time.”
“More than 3% of U.S. adults report taking vitamin D at doses of 4,000 IU per day or higher. Our results provide reassurance that higher doses of vitamin D do not appear to promote lower limb arterial calcification over a 3-year timeframe,” Billington said. “However, in individuals with lower limb arterial calcifications, it does not appear that high-dose vitamin D slows or reverses the calcification process.”
There was a higher proportion of men in the group of participants with arterial calcification (64%) compared with the group without arterial calcification (50%) (P = .041). The researchers observed systolic blood pressure of 126 mm Hg and diastolic BP of 79 mm Hg in those with arterial calcification compared with readings of 129 mm Hg (P = .0042) and 82 mm Hg (P = .014), respectively, among those without the condition. In addition, the researchers found that 24-hour urine calcium excretion was 4 mmol per day for those with arterial calcification vs. 4.6 mmol per day for those without the condition (P = .015). – by Phil Neuffer
Reference:
Billington E, et al. Abstract 1076. Presented at: American Society of Bone and Mineral Research; Sept. 20-23, 2019; Orlando.
For more information:
Emma Billington, BSc, MD , can be reached at Emma.Billington@albertahealthservices.ca.
Disclosure: Billington reports she has received honoraria from Amgen and Eli Lilly and research funding from Amgen.
Editor’s Note: The article was updated on Sept. 27 to indicate that the monthly calcification increase was 0.02 mg and that there was a higher proportion of men in the group of participants with arterial calcification compared with the group without arterial calcification. The editors regret the errors.