title: Vitamin D and muscle strength throughout the life course: a review of epidemiological and intervention studies.
abstract: The putative role of vitamin D in muscle function and strength throughout the life course is of interest because muscle strength is required for engagement in physical activity at all ages. As vitamin D deficiency is widely reported in the population, especially in countries at high latitude, the potential importance of vitamin D in muscle function throughout life, and the potential impacts on growth and development, participation in physical activity, and effects on skeletal and cardio-metabolic health, comprise an important topic for discussion. This review provides an overview of muscle function and summarises the role of the vitamin D receptor and the proposed molecular mechanisms of action of vitamin D in muscle cells. In addition, the review provides a comprehensive assessment of the clinical evidence surrounding the association between vitamin D and muscle strength. Among adults, particularly older adults, cross-sectional and cohort studies reported a positive association between vitamin D status and muscle strength. These associations have been largely confirmed by intervention studies. Limited research has been carried out in adolescents and children; two cross-sectional studies in adolescents have suggested an association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and muscle strength. However, the two intervention studies in adolescents have yielded conflicting results. Other than a single observational study, data in young children are very limited and further investigation in under 12-year-olds is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Vitamin D Research Group, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.affiliation: Vitamin D Research Group, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.|The Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kiely
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D
keywords: muscle function; muscle strength; vitamin D; vitamin D deficiency; vitamin D receptor