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A number of articles and studies suggest that Vitamin Dⁱ provides benefit in the prevention and treatment of Heart Diseaseⁱ:

• Lack Of Vitamin D May Increase Heart Disease Risk

• Vitamin D and blood pressure connection: update on epidemiologic, clinical, and mechanistic evidence.

• Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and risk of incident hypertension

• Association of vitamin D deficiency with heart failure and sudden cardiac death in a large cross-sectional study of patients referred for coronary angiography

• Vitamin D deficiency and risk of cardiovascular disease

The following article provides an overview of some of the suspected roles that Vitamin D3 may play in Heart Disease.  They are that Vitamin D3:

1. Is anti-inflammatory
2. Is anti-thrombotic
3. Reduces plaque instability through its effects on MMPs, TIMP-1 and C-reactive Protein
4. Reduces blood pressure and plasma renin activity
5. Regulates nitric oxide production

•  The emerging Role of Vitamin D and its receptor in the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndromes

Below are a few supporting studies for each of the suspected roles Vitamin D3 may play in Heart Disease as discussed in the article above:

Is anti-inflammatory:

• Vitamin D supplementation improves cytokine profiles in patients with congestive heart failure: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial

• Calcitriol blunts the deleterious impact of advanced glycation end products on endothelial cells

Is anti-thrombotic:

• Vitamin D analogs modulate the expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, thrombospondin-1 and thrombomodulin in human aortic smooth muscle cells

• Vitamin D-vitamin D receptor system regulates antithrombogenicity in vivo

• Disruption of nuclear vitamin D receptor gene causes enhanced thrombogenicity in mice

 

Reduces plaque instability through its effects on MMPs, TIMP-1 and C-reactive Protein:

• Circulating MMP9, vitamin D and variation in the TIMP-1 response with VDR genotype: mechanisms for inflammatory damage in chronic disorders?

   

Reduces blood pressure and plasma renin activity:

• Vitamin D regulation of the renin-angiotensin system

• Effectiveness of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D supplementation on blood pressure reduction in a pseudohypoparathyroidism patient with high renin activity

Regulates nitric oxide production:

•  Expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and endothelin-1 by genetic knockout

A recent study suggests that Vit D3 may also play an important roll in preventing foam cell formation:

• 1,25(OH)₂ Vitamin D Inhibits Foam Cell Formation and Suppresses Macrophage Cholesterol Uptake in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

An excellent, and easy to understand video on Vitamin D and Cardiovascular Disease can be found here:

• Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Disease- New Frontiers for Prevention by David Sane, MD of Wake Forest

Additional articles on Vitamin D and Heart Disease can be found on the Vitamin D Council's Vitamin D and Heart Disease and Hypertension pages:

• Heart Disease
  

• Hypertension