Effects of Vitamin D on Blood Pressure and Endothelial Function

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent, primarily due to limited sun exposure, which may be observed in urban areas, or as a result of modern lifestyles. Common myths about vitamin D persist, including that it is mostly obtained from the diet and is only essential for bone and mineral homeostasis. Nonetheless, advances in biomedical science suggest that vitamin D is a hormone that is integral to numerous physiologic functions in most cells and tissues. Therefore, abnormal vitamin D levels may contribute to health disturbances. A number of recent reports on potential associations between vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular disease have highlighted its role in this system. A focus over the previous decade has been to better understand the mechanisms behind vitamin D regulation and the pathophysiology associated with suboptimal vitamin D levels. Vitamin D deficiency is highly associated with the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, even when considering other well-known risk factors. In this process, the renin-angiotensin system is disrupted, and hypertension and endothelial dysfunction contribute to the risk of cardiovascular disease. Likewise, clinical outcomes upon the normalization of vitamin D levels have been investigated in different patient populations. It makes sense that vitamin D supplementation to improve vitamin D status among vitamin D-deficient individuals could be useful without requiring a sudden lifestyle change. This manuscript provides a brief overview of vitamin D metabolism and the vitamin D receptor. It also summarizes the current clinical research relating to vitamin D supplementation and its effects on hypertension and endothelial dysfunction in cardiovascular medicine.

Vitamin D insufficiency, preterm delivery and preeclampsia in women with type 1 diabetes – an observational study

“…One woman in early and eight women in late pregnancy did not have blood samples collected for various other reasons. Among the healthy women blood was sampled at 15 (range [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] weeks.…”

“…Preeclampsia is characterized by hypertension and is a frequent cause of preterm delivery. Clinical studies have demonstrated an inverse relationship between vitamin D levels and the blood pressure outside pregnancy (15,16), a mechanism that has been linked to the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (16,17).…”

Vitamin D and its effects on cardiovascular diseases: a comprehensive review

“…Chronic treatment with calcitriol has shown that hypertensive rats have decreased endothelium dependent vascular contraction, reduced quantities of reactive oxygen species, and diminished expression of cyclooxigenase-1 [73], which suggests that vitamin D directly confers a protective function against endothelial dysfunction [74]. …”

Nocturnal light pollution and underexposure to daytime sunlight: Complementary mechanisms of circadian disruption and related diseases

“…Thereafter, the 1,25(OH)2D3-VDR complex locates to the nucleus where it heterodimerizes with retinoic acid receptor (RXR). The 1,25(OH)2D3-VDR-RXR complex subsequently binds to response elements of vitamin D (VDRE) in the promoter region of target genes to stimulate RNA transcription and protein expression that mediates many diverse actions (Mandarino et al, 2015;Min, 2013;Wacker & Holick, 2013a). Such vitamin D-regulated gene expression occurs in a broad array of cells, including b-pancreatic, epidermal small intestine, hematopoietic, parathyroid gland, placental, renal tubular, vascular endothelial, and smooth muscle ones, plus cardiomyocytes, lymphocytes, myocytes, osteoblasts, and osteoclasts (Mandarino et al, 2015;Wacker & Holick, 2013a).…”