RESEARCH ARTICLE
Is Vitamin D Deficiency a New Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease?
Natália Ribeiro Mandarino *, 1, Francisco das Chagas Monteiro Júnior 2, João Victor Leal Salgado 3, Joyce Santos Lages 2, Natalino Salgado Filho 4
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2015Volume: 9
First Page: 40
Last Page: 49
Publisher ID: TOCMJ-9-40
DOI: 10.2174/1874192401509010040
Article History:
Received Date: 27/3/2014Revision Received Date: 26/6/2014
Acceptance Date: 29/6/2014
Electronic publication date: 30 /3/2015
Collection year: 2015
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
The role of vitamin D in the regulation of bone metabolism has been well established. However, in recent years, many studies have demonstrated that its role extends far beyond bone health. Growing evidence has shown a strong association between vitamin D deficiency and hypertension, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis. The mechanisms by which vitamin D exerts its cardiovascular protective effects are still not completely understood, but there is evidence that it participates in the regulation of renin-angiotensin system and the mechanisms of insulin sensitivity and activity of inflammatory cytokines, besides its direct cardiovascular actions. In this review, several studies linking vitamin D deficiency with cardiometabolic risk as well as small randomized trials that have evaluated the cardiovascular effects of its supplementation are presented. However, large randomized placebo-controlled studies are still needed before we can definitively establish the role of vitamin D supplementation in the prevention and control of cardiovascular disease.
