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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Isolation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Human Alveolar Periosteum and Effects of Vitamin D on Osteogenic Activity of Periosteum-derived Cells
Published on: May 4, 2018
Effect of vitamin D and calcium supplementation on bone turnover in institutionalized adults with Down's Syndrome
P Zubillaga1, A Garrido, I Mugica
1Fundacion Uliazpi, Portu-Etxe 53, 20018 San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain. pzubillaga@telefonica.net
Objective:
To assess the status of vitamin D and the effects of calcium and vitamin D3 supplementation on the bone metabolism in a group of adults with Down's syndrome (DS).
Design:
Randomized, parallel, controlled and open clinical trial.
Setting:
Institution for mentally handicapped: Fundación Uliazpi, Diputación Foral de Guipúzcoa, San Sebastián, Spain.
Subjects:
A total of 23 persons with DS, residents at the Uliazpi Foundation were recruited and all completed the study.
Intervention:
In all, 12 participants were randomly allocated to receive 1 g of calcium and 800 IU of vitamin D once daily for 1 year while 11 were assigned to the control group, receiving no supplementation.
Results:
We found no differences between groups regarding serum calcium and phosphorous levels. The remaining parameters showed differences between the two groups consistent with a beneficial effect of the intervention: serum levels of parathyroid hormone, osteocalcin and crosslaps diminished while serum 25 OH vitamin D3 level increased.
Conclusions:
The results obtained allow to include people with DS as a risk group with regards to vitamin D deficit, which that can be corrected with vitamin D and calcium supplementation, and giving rise to an improvement of the biochemical markers related to the phospho-calcium metabolism and bone remodelling.
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