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Vitamin D May Prevent Clogged Arteries in Diabetics, Genetic Disease Risk
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MikeV
Nov 14, 2012, 7:04:17 AM11/14/12
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Vitamin D May Prevent Clogged Arteries in Diabetics
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2012) — People with diabetes often develop clogged
arteries that cause heart disease, and new research at Washington University
School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that low vitamin D levels are to
blame.
In a study published Nov. 9 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the
researchers report that blood vessels are less like to clog in people with
diabetes who get adequate vitamin D. But in patients with insufficient
vitamin D, immune cells bind to blood vessels near the heart, then trap
cholesterol to block those blood vessels.
"About 26 million Americans now have type 2 diabetes," says principal
investigator Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, MD. "And as obesity rates rise, we
expect even more people will develop diabetes. Those patients are more
likely to experience heart problems due to an increase in vascular
inflammation, so we have been investigating why this occurs."
In earlier research, Bernal-Mizrachi, an assistant professor of medicine and
of cell biology and physiology, and his colleagues found that vitamin D
appears to play a key role in heart disease. This new study takes their work
a step further, suggesting that when vitamin D levels are low, a particular
class of white blood cell is more likely to adhere to cells in the walls of
blood vessels.
Vitamin D conspires with immune cells called macrophages either to keep
arteries clear or to clog them. The macrophages begin their existence as
white blood cells called monocytes that circulate in the bloodstream. But
when monocytes encounter inflammation, they are transformed into
macrophages, which no longer circulate.
In the new study, researchers looked at vitamin D levels in 43 people with
type 2 diabetes and in 25 others who were similar in age, sex and body
weight but didn't have diabetes.
They found that in diabetes patients with low vitamin D -- less than 30
nanograms per milliliter of blood -- the macrophage cells were more likely
to adhere to the walls of blood vessels, which triggers cells to get loaded
with cholesterol, eventually causing the vessels to stiffen and block blood
flow.
"We took everything into account," says first author Amy E. Riek, MD,
instructor in medicine. "We looked at blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes
control, body weight and race. But only vitamin D levels correlated to
whether these cells stuck to the blood vessel wall."
Riek and Bernal-Mizrachi say what's not yet clear is whether giving vitamin
D to people with diabetes will reverse their risk of developing clogged
arteries, a condition called atherosclerosis. They now are treating mice
with vitamin D to see whether it can prevent monocytes from adhering to the
walls of blood vessels near the heart, and they also are conducting two
clinical trials in patients.
In one of those studies, the researchers are giving vitamin D to people with
diabetes and hypertension to see whether the treatment may lower blood
pressure. In the second study, African Americans with type 2 diabetes are
getting vitamin D along with their other daily medications, and the research
team is evaluating whether vitamin D supplements can slow or reverse the
progression of heart disease.
Sometime in the next several months, the scientists hope to determine
whether vitamin D treatment can reverse some of the risk factors associated
with cardiovascular disease.
"In the future, we hope to generate medications, potentially even vitamin D
itself, that help prevent the deposit of cholesterol in the blood vessels,"
Bernal-Mizrachi explains. "Previous studies have linked vitamin D deficiency
in these patients to increases in cardiovascular disease and in mortality.
Other work has suggested that vitamin D may improve insulin release from the
pancreas and insulin sensitivity. Our ultimate goal is to intervene in
people with diabetes and to see whether vitamin D might decrease
inflammation, reduce blood pressure and lessen the likelihood that they will
develop atherosclerosis or other vascular complications."
Funding for this research comes from the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute (NHLBI), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases (NIDDK), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development (NICHD), National Center for Research Resources
(NCRR), National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), and
NIH Roadmap for Medical Research of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Support also comes from the American Diabetes Association, the Endocrine
Society, the Endocrine Fellows Foundation and the Ruth L. Kirchstein
National Research Service Award 2. NIH grant numbers are RO1 HO094818-0,
P30DK079333, T32 HD043010, and UL1TRR000448/Sub-Award KL2TR000450.
**
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121113134222.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fhealth_medicine%2Fvitamin_d+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Health+%26+Medicine+News+--+Vitamin+D%29
**
****************************************************
Genetic Variation May Modify Associations Between Low Vitamin D Levels and
Adverse Health Outcomes
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2012) — Findings from a study suggest that certain
variations in vitamin D metabolism genes may modify the association of low
serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations with health outcomes such as hip
fracture, heart attack, cancer, and death, according to a study appearing in
the November 14 issue of JAMA.
Vitamin D status is defined by the circulating concentration of
25-hydroxyvitamin D. Lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are
associated with greater risks of many chronic diseases, prompting ongoing
clinical trials to test whether vitamin D supplementation can reduce the
risk of disease development. Certain complex metabolic pathways suggest that
interindividual variability in vitamin D metabolism may alter the clinical
consequences of measured serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, according to background
information in the article.
Full article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121113161506.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fhealth_medicine%2Fvitamin_d+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Health+%26+Medicine+News+--+Vitamin+D%29
**********************************************************
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2012) — People with diabetes often develop clogged
arteries that cause heart disease, and new research at Washington University
School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that low vitamin D levels are to
blame.
In a study published Nov. 9 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the
researchers report that blood vessels are less like to clog in people with
diabetes who get adequate vitamin D. But in patients with insufficient
vitamin D, immune cells bind to blood vessels near the heart, then trap
cholesterol to block those blood vessels.
"About 26 million Americans now have type 2 diabetes," says principal
investigator Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, MD. "And as obesity rates rise, we
expect even more people will develop diabetes. Those patients are more
likely to experience heart problems due to an increase in vascular
inflammation, so we have been investigating why this occurs."
In earlier research, Bernal-Mizrachi, an assistant professor of medicine and
of cell biology and physiology, and his colleagues found that vitamin D
appears to play a key role in heart disease. This new study takes their work
a step further, suggesting that when vitamin D levels are low, a particular
class of white blood cell is more likely to adhere to cells in the walls of
blood vessels.
Vitamin D conspires with immune cells called macrophages either to keep
arteries clear or to clog them. The macrophages begin their existence as
white blood cells called monocytes that circulate in the bloodstream. But
when monocytes encounter inflammation, they are transformed into
macrophages, which no longer circulate.
In the new study, researchers looked at vitamin D levels in 43 people with
type 2 diabetes and in 25 others who were similar in age, sex and body
weight but didn't have diabetes.
They found that in diabetes patients with low vitamin D -- less than 30
nanograms per milliliter of blood -- the macrophage cells were more likely
to adhere to the walls of blood vessels, which triggers cells to get loaded
with cholesterol, eventually causing the vessels to stiffen and block blood
flow.
"We took everything into account," says first author Amy E. Riek, MD,
instructor in medicine. "We looked at blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes
control, body weight and race. But only vitamin D levels correlated to
whether these cells stuck to the blood vessel wall."
Riek and Bernal-Mizrachi say what's not yet clear is whether giving vitamin
D to people with diabetes will reverse their risk of developing clogged
arteries, a condition called atherosclerosis. They now are treating mice
with vitamin D to see whether it can prevent monocytes from adhering to the
walls of blood vessels near the heart, and they also are conducting two
clinical trials in patients.
In one of those studies, the researchers are giving vitamin D to people with
diabetes and hypertension to see whether the treatment may lower blood
pressure. In the second study, African Americans with type 2 diabetes are
getting vitamin D along with their other daily medications, and the research
team is evaluating whether vitamin D supplements can slow or reverse the
progression of heart disease.
Sometime in the next several months, the scientists hope to determine
whether vitamin D treatment can reverse some of the risk factors associated
with cardiovascular disease.
"In the future, we hope to generate medications, potentially even vitamin D
itself, that help prevent the deposit of cholesterol in the blood vessels,"
Bernal-Mizrachi explains. "Previous studies have linked vitamin D deficiency
in these patients to increases in cardiovascular disease and in mortality.
Other work has suggested that vitamin D may improve insulin release from the
pancreas and insulin sensitivity. Our ultimate goal is to intervene in
people with diabetes and to see whether vitamin D might decrease
inflammation, reduce blood pressure and lessen the likelihood that they will
develop atherosclerosis or other vascular complications."
Funding for this research comes from the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute (NHLBI), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases (NIDDK), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development (NICHD), National Center for Research Resources
(NCRR), National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), and
NIH Roadmap for Medical Research of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Support also comes from the American Diabetes Association, the Endocrine
Society, the Endocrine Fellows Foundation and the Ruth L. Kirchstein
National Research Service Award 2. NIH grant numbers are RO1 HO094818-0,
P30DK079333, T32 HD043010, and UL1TRR000448/Sub-Award KL2TR000450.
**
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121113134222.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fhealth_medicine%2Fvitamin_d+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Health+%26+Medicine+News+--+Vitamin+D%29
**
****************************************************
Genetic Variation May Modify Associations Between Low Vitamin D Levels and
Adverse Health Outcomes
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2012) — Findings from a study suggest that certain
variations in vitamin D metabolism genes may modify the association of low
serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations with health outcomes such as hip
fracture, heart attack, cancer, and death, according to a study appearing in
the November 14 issue of JAMA.
Vitamin D status is defined by the circulating concentration of
25-hydroxyvitamin D. Lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are
associated with greater risks of many chronic diseases, prompting ongoing
clinical trials to test whether vitamin D supplementation can reduce the
risk of disease development. Certain complex metabolic pathways suggest that
interindividual variability in vitamin D metabolism may alter the clinical
consequences of measured serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, according to background
information in the article.
Full article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121113161506.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fhealth_medicine%2Fvitamin_d+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Health+%26+Medicine+News+--+Vitamin+D%29
**********************************************************
Colt T
Nov 15, 2012, 11:45:27 AM11/15/12
to
I still take 5000 units of D3 daily.
Pendrag0n
Nov 15, 2012, 2:21:59 PM11/15/12
to
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