M. Pfeifer et al., Effects of a short-term vitamin D-3 and calcium supplementation on blood pressure and parathyroid hormone levels in elderly women, J CLIN END, 86(4), 2001, pp. 1633-1637
Calcium supplementation is effective in reducing blood pressure in various
states of hypertension, including pregnancy-induced hypertension and preecl
ampsia. In addition, calcitropic hormones are associated with blood pressur
e. The hypothesis is that short-term therapy with calcium and vitamin D-3 m
ay improve blood pressure as well as secondary hyperparathyroidism more eff
ectively than calcium monotherapy.
The effects of 8 weeks of supplementation with vitamin D-3 (cholecalciferol
) and calcium on blood pressure and biochemical measures of bone metabolism
were studied. The sample consisted of 148 women (mean +/- SD age, 74 +/- 1
yr) with a 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (250HD(3)) level below 50 nmol/L. The
y received either 1200 mg calcium plus 800 IU vitamin D-3 or 1200 mg calciu
m/day. We measured intact PTH, 250KD(3), 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D-3, blood p
ressure, and heart rate before and after treatment.
Compared with calcium, supplementation with vitamin D-3 and calcium resulte
d in an increase in serum 250HD(3) of 72% (P < 0.01), a decrease in serum P
TH of 17% (P = 0.04), a decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 9.3% (
P = 0.02), and a decrease in heart rate of 5.4% (P = 0.02). Sixty subjects
(81%) in the vitamin D-3 and calcium group compared with 35 (47%) subjects
in the calcium group showed a decrease in SEP of 5 mm Hg or more (P = 0.04)
. No statistically significant difference was observed in the diastolic blo
od pressures of the calcium-treated and calcium- plus vitamin D-3-treated g
roups (P = 0.10). Pearson coefficients of correlation between the change in
PTH and the change in SEP were 0.49 (P < 0.01) for the vitamin D-3 plus ca
lcium group and 0.23 (P < 0.01) for the calcium group.
A short-term supplementation with vitamin D-3 and calcium is more effective
in reducing SEP than calcium alone. Inadequate vitamin D-3 and calcium int
ake could play a contributory role in the pathogenesis and progression of h
ypertension and cardiovascular disease in elderly women.