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Effect of high-dose vitamin D supplementation on peripheral arterial calcification: secondary analysis of a
E O Billington1,2,3, L A Burt4, R Plett4
1McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. emma.billington@ahs.ca.
Insights
High-dose vitamin D supplementation did not impact arterial calcification progression in adults. This study found no significant difference in tibial artery calcification development across various vitamin D doses over three years.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Health
- Endocrinology
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Arterial calcification is a marker of cardiovascular risk.
- The impact of high-dose vitamin D supplementation on arterial calcification is not well understood.
- Vitamin D deficiency is common, but supplementation effects require investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dose-dependent effect of vitamin D supplementation on the development and progression of arterial calcification.
- To determine if daily intake of 400, 4000, or 10,000 IU of vitamin D3 influences tibial artery calcification over three years.
Main Methods:
- Secondary analysis of the Calgary Vitamin D Study, a 3-year double-blind randomized controlled trial.
- Participants (aged 55-70) received 400, 4000, or 10,000 IU vitamin D3 daily.
- Tibial artery calcification quantified using HR-pQCT; changes analyzed with linear mixed effects models.
Main Results:
- 85 out of 302 participants had tibial artery calcification at baseline.
- Calcification quantity increased by 0.020 mgHA/month in affected participants.
- No significant difference in calcification progression was observed between vitamin D treatment groups (p=0.645).
Conclusions:
- Vitamin D3 supplementation at 400, 4000, or 10,000 IU/day did not differentially affect arterial calcification development or progression.
- In vitamin D-replete adults, high-dose supplementation showed no impact on tibial artery calcification over three years.
Abstract:
Although high-dose vitamin D supplementation is common, effects on arterial calcification remain unexplored. Tibial artery calcification was identified and quantified over 3 years in participants randomized to 400, 4000, or 10,000 IU vitamin D3 daily. High-dose vitamin D supplementation did not affect the development or progression of arterial calcification.
Introduction:
To determine whether vitamin D supplementation has a dose-dependent effect on development and progression of arterial calcification.
Methods:
This was a secondary analysis of the Calgary Vitamin D Study, a 3-year, double-blind, randomized controlled trial conducted at a single-center in Calgary, Canada. Participants were community-dwelling adults aged 55-70 years with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D 30-125 nmol/L. Participants were randomized 1:1:1 to receive vitamin D3 400, 4000, or 10,000 IU/day for 3 years. Tibial artery calcification was identified and quantified (in milligrams of hydroxyapatite, mgHA) using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) at baseline and 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. Changes in calcification over time and treatment group interaction were evaluated using a constrained linear mixed effects model.
Results:
Of 311 randomized participants, 302 (400: 105, 4000: 96, 10,000: 101) were eligible for analysis of arterial calcification (54% male, mean (SD) age 62 (4) years, mean (SD) 25-hydroxyvitamin D 78.9 (19.9) nmol/L). At baseline, 85 (28%) had tibial artery calcification, and mean (95% CI) calcification quantity was 2.8 mgHA (95% CI 1.7-3.9). In these 85 participants, calcification quantity increased linearly by 0.020 mgHA/month (95% CI 0.012-0.029) throughout the study, with no evidence of a treatment-group effect (p = 0.645 for interaction). No participants developed new arterial calcifications during the study.
Conclusions:
In this population of community-dwelling adults who were vitamin D replete at baseline, supplementation with vitamin D 400, 4000, or 10,000 IU/day did not have differential effects on the development or progression of arterial calcification over 3 years.
Trial Registration:
clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01900860).
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