Impact of oral 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D (calcitriol) replacement therapy on coronary artery risk factors in type 2 diabetic patients.

Background: Observational data suggest that low 25-hyroxyvitamin D is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors include diabetes, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, hypertension, microalbuminuria and inflammation. We examined the differences between risk factors of CVD before and after treatment with calcitriol in type 2 diabetic patients with vitamin D deficiency.

Methods: This study was a clinical trial consisting of 119 type 2 diabetic patients. Forty three patients had vitamin D insufficiency (25 OH D less than 30 ng/dl) who underwent calcitriol treatment with 0.5 microgram per day for 8 weeks. Blood pressure, fasting blood sugar (FBS), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C), lipid profile, high sensitive C-reactive protein (HsCRP), Homocysteine and albumin to creatinine ratio were measured, before and after the treatment period. Then the two sets of results were compared with each other.

Results: Following treatment with calcitriol HbA1C, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein(LDL), high density lipoprotein(HDL) and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly (p = 0.01, 0.01, 0.04, 0.001 and 0.04 respectively) but the changes in other parameters were not significant.

Conclusion: Replacement of vitamin D may have a beneficial effect on some of the risk factors of CVD in diabetic patients.