Effects of a Short-Term Vitamin D3 and Calcium Supplementation on Blood Pressure and Parathyroid Hormone Levels in Elderly Women1

• Published in: The journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism 2001-04, Vol.86 (4), p.1633-1637
• Main Authors: Pfeifer, Michael, Begerow, Bettina, Minne, Helmut W., Nachtigall, Detlef, Hansen, Corinna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0021-972X; 1945-7197
• DOI: 10.1210/jcem.86.4.7393

Calcium supplementation is effective in reducing blood pressure in various states of hypertension, including pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia. In addition, calcitropic hormones are associated with blood pressure. The hypothesis is that short-term therapy with calcium and vitamin D3 may improve blood pressure as well as secondary hyperparathyroidism more effectively than calcium monotherapy. The effects of 8 weeks of supplementation with vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and calcium on blood pressure and biochemical measures of bone metabolism were studied. The sample consisted of 148 women (mean ± sd age, 74 ± 1 yr) with a 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25OHD3) level below 50 nmol/L. They received either 1200 mg calcium plus 800 IU vitamin D3 or 1200 mg calcium/day. We measured intact PTH, 25OHD3, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, blood pressure, and heart rate before and after treatment. Compared with calcium, supplementation with vitamin D3 and calcium resulted in an increase in serum 25OHD3 of 72% (P < 0.01), a decrease in serum PTH of 17% (P = 0.04), a decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 9.3% (P = 0.02), and a decrease in heart rate of 5.4% (P = 0.02). Sixty subjects (81%) in the vitamin D3 and calcium group compared with 35 (47%) subjects in the calcium group showed a decrease in SBP of 5 mm Hg or more (P = 0.04). No statistically significant difference was observed in the diastolic blood pressures of the calcium-treated and calcium- plus vitamin D3-treated groups (P = 0.10). Pearson coefficients of correlation between the change in PTH and the change in SBP were 0.49 (P < 0.01) for the vitamin D3 plus calcium group and 0.23 (P < 0.01) for the calcium group. A short-term supplementation with vitamin D3 and calcium is more effective in reducing SBP than calcium alone. Inadequate vitamin D3 and calcium intake could play a contributory role in the pathogenesis and progression of hypertension and cardiovascular disease in elderly women.