IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0180512.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Non-skeletal health effects of vitamin D supplementation: A systematic review on findings from meta-analyses summarizing trial data

Author

Listed:
  • Lars Rejnmark
  • Lise Sofie Bislev
  • Kevin D Cashman
  • Gudny Eiríksdottir
  • Martin Gaksch
  • Martin Grübler
  • Guri Grimnes
  • Vilmundur Gudnason
  • Paul Lips
  • Stefan Pilz
  • Natasja M van Schoor
  • Mairead Kiely
  • Rolf Jorde

Abstract

Background: A large number of observational studies have reported harmful effects of low 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels on non-skeletal outcomes. We performed a systematic quantitative review on characteristics of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) included in meta-analyses (MAs) on non-skeletal effects of vitamin D supplementation. Methods and findings: We identified systematic reviews (SR) reporting summary data in terms of MAs of RCTs on selected non-skeletal outcomes. For each outcome, we summarized the results from available SRs and scrutinized included RCTs for a number of predefined characteristics. We identified 54 SRs including data from 210 RCTs. Most MAs as well as the individual RCTs reported null-findings on risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, weight-loss, and malignant diseases. Beneficial effects of vitamin D supplementation was reported in 1 of 4 MAs on depression, 2 of 9 MAs on blood pressure, 3 of 7 MAs on respiratory tract infections, and 8 of 12 MAs on mortality. Most RCTs have primarily been performed to determine skeletal outcomes, whereas non-skeletal effects have been assessed as secondary outcomes. Only one-third of the RCTs had low level of 25OHD as a criterion for inclusion and a mean baseline 25OHD level below 50 nmol/L was only present in less than half of the analyses. Conclusions: Published RCTs have mostly been performed in populations without low 25OHD levels. The fact that most MAs on results from RCTs did not show a beneficial effect does not disprove the hypothesis suggested by observational findings on adverse health outcomes of low 25OHD levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Rejnmark & Lise Sofie Bislev & Kevin D Cashman & Gudny Eiríksdottir & Martin Gaksch & Martin Grübler & Guri Grimnes & Vilmundur Gudnason & Paul Lips & Stefan Pilz & Natasja M van Schoor & Mairead, 2017. "Non-skeletal health effects of vitamin D supplementation: A systematic review on findings from meta-analyses summarizing trial data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-39, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0180512
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180512
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0180512
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0180512&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0180512?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beverley J Shea & Lex M Bouter & Joan Peterson & Maarten Boers & Neil Andersson & Zulma Ortiz & Tim Ramsay & Annie Bai & Vijay K Shukla & Jeremy M Grimshaw, 2007. "External Validation of a Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(12), pages 1-5, December.
    2. Karani S Vimaleswaran & Diane J Berry & Chen Lu & Emmi Tikkanen & Stefan Pilz & Linda T Hiraki & Jason D Cooper & Zari Dastani & Rui Li & Denise K Houston & Andrew R Wood & Karl Michaëlsson & Liesbeth, 2013. "Causal Relationship between Obesity and Vitamin D Status: Bi-Directional Mendelian Randomization Analysis of Multiple Cohorts," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Raouf Afif, 2019. "Do Obesity and Vitamin D Correlate with Each Other A Mini Review," Current Research in Diabetes & Obesity Journal, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 11(2), pages 38-40, June.
    2. Ee Yin Chua & Zalilah Mohd Shariff & Norhasmah Sulaiman & Geeta Appannah & Heng Yaw Yong, 2020. "Associations of Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D with Adiposity and At-Risk Lipid Profile Differ for Indigenous (Orang Asli) Male and Female Adults of Peninsular Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-16, April.
    3. May Fouad Nassar & Mohamed Farouk Allam, 2020. "Vitamin D Predicament in Obese Children and Adolescents," Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, Biomedical Research Network+, LLC, vol. 25(1), pages 18732-18734, January.
    4. Christian Dustmann & Malte Sandner & Uta Schönberg, 2024. "The Effects of Sun Intensity during Pregnancy and in the First 12 Months of Life on Childhood Obesity," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(6), pages 1683-1713.
    5. Min Yang & Li Jiang & Qing Wang & Hao Chen & Guihua Xu, 2017. "Traditional Chinese medicine for knee osteoarthritis: An overview of systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Sofus C Larsen & Lars Ängquist & Max Moldovan & Ville Huikari & Sylvain Sebert & Alana Cavadino & Tarunveer Singh Ahluwalia & Tea Skaaby & Allan Linneberg & Lise Lotte N Husemoen & Ulla Toft & Oluf Pe, 2016. "Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Status and Longitudinal Changes in Weight and Waist Circumference: Influence of Genetic Predisposition to Adiposity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0180512. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.