Vitamin D deficiency independent of hypocalcemia elevates blood pressure in rats.
Essential hypertension is a polygenic disorder with a complex and multifactorial nature. Although no single gene is responsible, multiple genes provide incremental contributions to this disorder. Vitamin D is a primary regulator of calcium homeostasis. Epidemiological and clinical studies appear to point to a role for vitamin D in hypertension but direct experimental evidence is lacking. Sprague-Dawley rats were made vitamin D deficient by feeding a purified vitamin D-deficient diet and eliminating all sources of ultraviolet light. Vitamin D deficiency was confirmed by very low serum calcium levels. Blood pressure was measured in conscious rats non-invasively with a volume pressure recording system. Vitamin D deficiency results in elevated blood pressures independent of serum calcium concentration. The administration of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-(OH)2D3) and a less calcemic analog, 2-methylene-19-nor-20(S)-1α-hydroxyl-bishomopregnacalciferol (2MbisP) significantly reduced blood pressure in these rats. Thus, vitamin D status is one of the determining factors regulating blood pressure.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Flora
F
Sundersingh
Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Lori A
LA
Plum
Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA. Electronic address: deluca@biochem.wisc.edu.
Hector F
HF
DeLuca
D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006996:Hypocalcemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*
D014807:Vitamin D; C097949:1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D
Blood pressure; Mean arterial pressure; Vitamin D analogs