Heart is helped by Vitamin D in many ways, still unsure about dose size

Created January 2014

Vitamin d and cardiovascular disease.

Circ Res. 2014 Jan 17;114(2):379-93. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.113.301241.

Norman PE paul.norman@uwa.edu.au, Powell JT.

School of Surgery, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia (P.E.N.)

Vascular Surgery Research Group, Imperial College, Charing Cross Campus, London, United Kingdom (J.T.P.).

Vitamin D plays a classical hormonal role in skeletal health by regulating calcium and phosphorus metabolism. Vitamin D metabolites also have physiological functions in nonskeletal tissues, where local synthesis influences regulatory pathways via paracrine and autocrine mechanisms. The active metabolite of vitamin D, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, binds to the vitamin D receptor that regulates numerous genes involved in fundamental processes of potential relevance to cardiovascular disease, including

  • cell proliferation and differentiation,

  • apoptosis,

  • oxidative stress,

  • membrane transport,

  • matrix homeostasis, and

  • cell adhesion.

Vitamin D receptors have been found in all the major cardiovascular cell types including *cardiomyocytes,

  • arterial wall cells, and

  • immune cells.

Experimental studies have established a role for vitamin D metabolites in pathways that are integral to cardiovascular function and disease, including

  • inflammation,

  • thrombosis, and the

  • renin-angiotensin system.

Clinical studies have generally demonstrated an independent association between vitamin D deficiency and various manifestations of degenerative cardiovascular disease including vascular calcification.

However, the role of vitamin D supplementation in the management of cardiovascular disease remains to be established. This review summarizes the clinical studies showing associations between vitamin D status and cardiovascular disease and the experimental studies that explore the mechanistic basis for these associations.

PMID: 24436433

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Tags: Cardiovascular