Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Blood Pressure in Blacks

• Published in: Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. 1979) Tex. 1979), 2013-04, Vol.61 (4), p.779-785
• Main Authors: Forman, John P, Scott, Jamil B, Ng, Kimmie, Drake, Bettina F, Suarez, Elizabeth Gonzalez, Hayden, Douglas L, Bennett, Gary G, Chandler, Paulette D, Hollis, Bruce W, Emmons, Karen M, Giovannucci, Edward L, Fuchs, Charles S, Chan, Andrew T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Arterial hypertension. Arterial hypotension; Biological and medical sciences; Black or African American; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Blood Pressure - drug effects; Blood Pressure - physiology; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cholecalciferol - administration & dosage; Dietary Supplements; Diseases of the digestive system; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Double-Blind Method; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Hypertension - drug therapy; Hypertension - ethnology; Massachusetts - epidemiology; Medical sciences; Prevalence; Prospective Studies; Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects); Treatment Outcome; Vitamins - administration & dosage
• ISSN: 0194-911X; 1524-4563; 1524-4563
• DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.00659

Blacks have significantly higher rates of hypertension than whites, and lower circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. There are few data about the effect of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) supplementation on blood pressure in blacks. During 2 winters from 2008 to 2010, 283 blacks (median age, 51 years) were randomized into a 4-arm, double-blind trial for 3 months of placebo, 1000, 2000, or 4000 international units of cholecalciferol per day. At baseline, 3 months, and 6 months, systolic and diastolic pressure and 25-hydroxyvitamin D were measured. The 3-month follow-up was completed in 250 (88%) participants. The difference in systolic pressure between baseline and 3 months was +1.7 mm Hg for those receiving placebo, −0.66 mm Hg for 1000 U/d, −3.4 mm Hg for 2000 U/d, and −4.0 mm Hg for 4000 U/d of cholecalciferol (−1.4 mm Hg for each additional 1000 U/d of cholecalciferol; P=0.04). For each 1-ng/mL increase in plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D, there was a significant 0.2-mm Hg reduction in systolic pressure (P=0.02). There was no effect of cholecalciferol supplementation on diastolic pressure (P=0.37). Within an unselected population of blacks, 3 months of oral vitamin D3 supplementation significantly, yet modestly, lowered systolic pressure. Future trials of vitamin D supplementation on blood pressure are needed to confirm these promising results, particularly among blacks, a population for whom vitamin D deficiency may play a more specific mechanistic role in the pathogenesis of hypertension.