Effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on blood pressure in adults: An updated meta-analysis.
Previous randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of the effects of vitamin D3 supplementation (VD3S) on blood pressure have generated inconsistent results. We evaluated the effect of VD3S on systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in a meta-analysis.



Literature searches of PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, and Google scholar for publications in English were conducted up to April 2015. RCTs that assessed the effect of VD3S on SBP and DBP were selected.



A total of 30 RCTs with 41 arms including 4744 participants were included. The mean duration of the studies was 5.6 ± 4.0 months, and doses of VD3S varied between 200 and 12,000 IU/day. VD3S had no effect on SBP (-0.68 mmHg, 95%CI: -2.19 to 0.84), and DBP (-0.57 mmHg, 95%CI: -1.36 to 0.22). Subgroup analysis revealed that daily vitamin D3 therapy at a dose of >800 IU/day for <6 months in subjects ≥50 years old reduced both SBP and DBP (p < 0.001). In addition, VD3S showed hypotensive effects in healthy subjects and hypertensive patients, but a hypertensive effect in overweight and obese subjects. However, after excluding overweight and obese subjects, VD3S significantly reduced SBP and DBP. VD3S in combination with calcium supplementation significantly elevated SBP (3.64 mmHg, 95%CI: 3.15-4.13) and DBP (1.71 mmHg, 95%CI: 1.25-2.18). No evidence of publication bias was found. The effects of VD3S on blood pressure depend on dose of supplementation, treatment regimens, trial duration, and population subgroup. Supplementation may be beneficial at daily doses >800 IU/day for <6 months in subjects ≥50 years old.
Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
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Golzarand
Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
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Shab-Bidar
School of Paramedicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Tehran, Iran.
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Koochakpoor
Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK; Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: j.speakman@abdn.ac.uk.
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Speakman J
Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: kdjafarian@tums.ac.ir.
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Djafarian
D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002118:Calcium / Q000009:adverse effects; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000009:adverse effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
D002762:Cholecalciferol; D002118:Calcium
Blood pressure; Cholecalciferol; Hypertension; Meta-analysis; Vitamin D3 supplementation