New Insights on Low Vitamin D Plasma Concentration as a Potential Cardiovascular Risk Factor.

Abstract

The role of Vitamin D hormone in human health and disease is still debated. Recently, growing attention has been paid to its putative role in cardiovascular system homeostasis with several studies that suggested a correlation between low vitamin D levels and increased cardiovascular risk. Several mechanisms are involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases: systemic inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, arterial hypertension and insulin resistance. In the present paper, we have revised the current literature supporting a role for vitamin D in the development of these pathogenetic processes. Finally, we have evaluated the current evidence linking vitamin D to atherosclerosis and its natural consequence, cardiovascular diseases.

The Enigma of Vitamin D Role in Inflammation

“…Furthermore, cardiovascular diseases are classical and severe complications of chronic inflammatory disorders, widely accounting for the increased mortality observed in these conditions. The atherogenic profile related to the chronic inflammatory state largely contributes to the increased cardiovascular risk; nevertheless, as broadly discussed by Bellan and Marzullo [30] in their manuscript here enclosed, vitamin D seems to play a critical role in the regulation of the glucose metabolism, which is a primary determinant of the cardiovascular risk. If this link is generally valid in patients affected by Type 2 Diabetes, vitamin D appears to be even more relevant in Type 1 Diabetes, in which the aberrant activity of the immune system is essential.…”

Vitamin D as a Biomarker of Ill Health among the Over-50s: A Systematic Review of Cohort Studies

“…Moreover, vitamin D deficiency is predictive of cardiovascular events in patients with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) [6], while strong associations emerged in cohort studies and meta-analyses of prospective studies between vitamin D and cardiovascular mortality as well as all-cause mortality [7,8,9,10,11]. These relations possibly originate from the favorable actions of vitamin D on anti-inflammatory and endothelial functions [12], although the possibility of an inverse relationship cannot be excluded [3].…”