Randomized supplementation of vitamin D versus placebo on markers of systemic inflammation in hypertensive patients
Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2021 Aug 18;S0939-4753(21)00349-5. doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2021.07.028
Martin R Grübler 1, Armin Zittermann 2, Nicolas D Verheyen 3, Christian Trummer 4, Verena Theiler-Schwetz 4, Martin H Keppel 5, Oliver Malle 4, Georg Richtig 6, Stephanie Gängler 7, Heike Bischoff-Ferrari 7, Hubert Scharnagl 8, Andreas Meinitzer 8, Winfried März 9, Andreas Tomaschitz 10, Stefan Pilz 4
Background and aims: Animal and cell models indicated that vitamin D modulates inflammatory activity, which is considered relevant in the pathogenesis of arterial hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. We therefore aimed to investigate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on systemic markers of inflammation in a cohort of hypertensive patients.
Methods and results: The Styrian Vitamin D Hypertension Trial is a single-centre, double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted from 2011 to 2014 in Austria. We enrolled 200 study participants with arterial hypertension and 25-hydroxy-vitamin-D (25(OH)D) concentration below 30 ng/mL. Study participants were randomized to receive either 2800 IU of vitamin D3 per day or placebo for 8 weeks. The present investigation is a post-hoc analysis using analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA). Outcome measures were biomarkers of inflammation including CRP, leukocytes including subtypes and leukocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, leucine and kynurenic acid. A total of 187 participants (mean age 60.1 ± 11.3years; 47% women; mean baseline 25(OH)D 21.1 ± 5.6 ng/mL) completed the trial. ANCOVA revealed a mean treatment effect for none of the respective outcomes and no significant results were detected in various subgroup analyses.
Conclusion: Vitamin D3 supplementation in hypertensive patients with insufficient 25(OH)D concentrations has no significant effect on lowering markers of systemic inflammation. Further studies investigating the effect of vitamin D on other inflammatory pathways and in populations with severe vitamin D deficiency and a significant inflammatory burden are required.
Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02136771; EudraCT No. 2009-018,125-70. Start Date: 2011-04-06