Daily intake of a vitamin D-fortified yogurt drink, either with or without added calcium, improved glycemic status in T2D patients. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01229891.

BackgroundEndothelial dysfunction has been proposed as the underlying cause of diabetic angiopathy that eventually leads to cardiovascular disease, the major cause of death in diabetes. We recently demonstrated the ameliorating effect of regular vitamin D intake on the glycemic status of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). In this study, the effects of improvement of vitamin D status on glycemic status, lipid profile and endothelial biomarkers in T2D subjects were investigated.MethodsSubjects with T2D were randomly allocated to one of the two groups to receive either plain yogurt drink (PYD; containing 170 mg calcium and no vitamin D/250 mL, n1 = 50) or vitamin D3-fortified yogurt drink (FYD; containing 170 mg calcium and 500 IU/250 mL, n2 = 50) twice a day for 12 weeks. Anthropometric measures, glycemic status, lipid profile, body fat mass (FM) and endothelial biomarkers including serum endothelin-1, E-selectin and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 were evaluated at the beginning and after the 12-week intervention period.ResultsThe intervention resulted in a significant improvement in fasting glucose, the Quantitative Insulin Check Index (QUICKI), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), triacylglycerols, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), endothelin-1, E-selectin and MMP-9 in FYD compared to PYD (P < 0.05, for all). Interestingly, difference in changes of endothelin-1, E-selectin and MMP-9 concentrations in FYD compared to PYD (-0.35 ± 0.63 versus -0.03 ± 0.55, P = 0.028; -3.8 ± 7.3 versus 0.95 ± 8.3, P = 0.003 and -2.3 ± 3.7 versus 0.44 ± 7.1 ng/mL, respectively, P < 0.05 for all), even after controlling for changes of QUICKI, FM and waist circumference, remained significant for endothelin-1 and MMP-9 (P = 0.009 and P = 0.005, respectively) but disappeared for E-selectin (P = 0.092). On the contrary, after controlling for serum 25(OH)D, the differences disappeared for endothelin-1(P = 0.066) and MMP-9 (P = 0.277) but still remained significant for E-selectin (P = 0.011).ConclusionsAmeliorated vitamin D status was accompanied by improved glycemic status, lipid profile and endothelial biomarkers in T2D subjects. Our findings suggest both direct and indirect ameliorating effects of vitamin D on the endothelial biomarkers.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01236846

Improvement of vitamin D status of T2D subjects resulted in amelioration of the systemic inflammatory markers. This may have preventive implications against cardiovascular disease and other diabetic complications.