title: Effect of 5 y of calcium plus vitamin D supplementation on change in circulating lipids: results from the Women's Health Initiative.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dietary calcium and vitamin D intakes may be inversely associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, possibly because of their potential beneficial effects on circulating lipids. Clinical trials that have evaluated the effect of calcium supplementation on lipids are limited by a short follow-up, and data on vitamin D are scarce.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to evaluate the effect of a longer-term effect (over 5 y) of calcium and vitamin D (CaD) supplementation on changes in the concentrations of several lipids: LDL, HDL, non-HDL, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)].
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted in 1259 postmenopausal women in the Calcium plus Vitamin D Trial (1 g elemental Ca as carbonate plus 400 IU vitamin D(3)/d compared with placebo) of the Women's Health Initiative. Analyses were conducted by intention-to-treat. Repeated measurements on lipids during follow-up were analyzed by linear mixed-effects models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the change in lipids was relatively small [< or =5% except for Lp(a), which was 20-25%], and there was no significant difference in the mean change of any lipid variable between the active and placebo groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that CaD supplementation is not associated with lipid changes over 5 y. Existing and future CaD trials should consider evaluating this association for different doses of supplements. This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00000611.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA. swapnil.rajpathak@einstein.yu.edu
authors.forename: Swapnil N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Rajpathak
authors.forename: Xiaonan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wassertheil-Smoller
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van Horn
authors.forename: Jennifer G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Simin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.forename: Lisa W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Gloria Y F
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Rohan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002118:Calcium / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D017270:Lipoprotein(a) / Q000097:blood; D018977:Micronutrients / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016387:Women's Health
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D017270:Lipoprotein(a); D018977:Micronutrients; D014807:Vitamin D; D002118:Calcium