Vitamin D Supplementation Does Not Impact Insulin Resistance in Black and White Children

Vitamin D supplementation trials with diabetes-related outcomes have been conducted almost exclusively in adults and provide equivocal findings.

The objective of this study was to determine the dose-response of vitamin D supplementation on fasting glucose, insulin, and a surrogate measure of insulin resistance in white and black children aged 9–13 years, who participated in the Georgia, Purdue, and Indiana University (or GAPI) trial: a 12-week multisite, randomized, triple-masked, dose-response, placebo-controlled vitamin D trial.

Black and white children in the early stages of puberty (N = 323, 50% male, 51% black) were equally randomized to receive vitamin D3 (0, 400, 1000, 2000, or 4000 IU/day) for 12 weeks. Fasting serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), glucose and insulin were assessed at baseline and weeks 6 and 12. Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance was used as a surrogate measure of insulin resistance. Statistical analyses were conducted as intent-to-treat using a mixed effects model.

Baseline serum 25(OH)D was inversely associated with insulin (r = −0.140, P = 0.017) and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (r = −0.146, P = 0.012) after adjusting for race, sex, age, pubertal maturation, fat mass, and body mass index. Glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance increased (F > 5.79, P < .003) over the 12 weeks, despite vitamin D dose-dependent increases in serum 25(OH)D.

Despite significant baseline inverse relationships between serum 25(OH)D and measures of insulin resistance, vitamin D supplementation had no impact on fasting glucose, insulin, or a surrogate measure of insulin resistance over 12 weeks in apparently healthy children.