title: Role of vitamin D in arterial hypertension.
abstract: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent and may contribute to arterial hypertension. The antihypertensive effects of vitamin D include suppression of renin and parathyroid hormone levels and renoprotective, anti-inflammatory and vasculoprotective properties. Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, which are used to classify the vitamin D status, are an independent risk factor for incident arterial hypertension. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials showed that vitamin D supplementation reduces systolic blood pressure by 2-6 mmHg. However, further studies are needed before drawing a final conclusion on the effect of vitamin D therapy on blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. In our current clinical practice we should take into account the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, the easy, cheap and safe way by which it can be supplemented and the promising clinical data suggesting that vitamin D might be useful for the treatment of arterial hypertension as well as other chronic diseases. Therefore, we recommend that testing for and treating vitamin D deficiency in patients with arterial hypertension should be seriously considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Graz, Austria. stefan.pilz@chello.at
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pilz
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tomaschitz
mesh_terms: D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D012306:Risk; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014815:Vitamins / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins; D014807:Vitamin D