Small or infrequent doses of vitamin D do not reduce heart failure much – meta-analysis

Effects of vitamin D supplementation on inflammatory markers in heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Sci Rep. 2018 Jan 18;8(1):1169. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-19708-0.

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Rodriguez AJ1, Mousa A2, Ebeling PR1, Scott D1, de Courten B3.

• 1 Bone and Muscle Health Research Group, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

• 2 Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

• 3 Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. barbora.decourten@monash.edu.

Vitamin D is reported to have anti-inflammatory properties; however the effects of vitamin D supplementation on inflammation in patients with heart failure (HF) have not been established. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis examining effects of vitamin D supplementation on inflammatory markers in patients with HF. MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, All EBM, and Clinical Trials registries were systematically searched for RCTs from inception to 25 January 2017. Two independent reviewers screened all full text articles (no date or language limits) for RCTs reporting effects of vitamin D supplementation (any form, route, duration, and co-supplementation) compared with placebo or usual care on inflammatory markers in patients with heart failure. Two reviewers assessed risk of bias and quality using the grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluation approach. Seven studies met inclusion criteria and six had data available for pooling (n = 1012). In meta-analyses, vitamin D-supplemented groups had lower concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) at follow-up compared with controls (n = 380; p = 0.04). There were no differences in C-reactive protein (n = 231), interleukin (IL)-10 (n = 247) or IL-6 (n = 154) between vitamin D and control groups (all p > 0.05). Our findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation may have specific, but modest effects on inflammatory markers in HF.