Effect of vitamin D supplementation on bone and vitamin D status among Pakistani immigrants in Denmark: a randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled intervention study
What this study found
Vitamin D3 supplementation at both 10 mg/d and 20 mg/d improved vitamin D status and lowered intact parathyroid hormone, but it did not significantly improve bone turnover markers or bone mass over the study period. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D rose by 31-32 nmol/L in women with both doses, by 16.5 nmol/L in men with 10 mg/d, and by 35.8 nmol/L in men with 20 mg/d; levels increased by 6 months and then remained stable. Bone findings were limited: whole-body BMC increased in men with 20 mg/d (ratio 1.01; P=0.049), while women had a small increase in whole-body BA (ratio 1.02; P=0.02) and a…
- Study & population
- Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention study in Pakistani-origin immigrants living in Denmark with low vitamin D status.
- Intervention
- Participants were randomized to oral vitamin D3 tablets taken daily for 12 months at either 10 mg/d or 20 mg/d, compared with placebo.
- Key limitation
- The authors note limited sample size and dropout, which reduce power to detect skeletal effects.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Severe vitamin D deficiency is common among Muslim immigrants. The dose necessary to correct the deficiency and its consequence for bone health are not known for immigrants. The aim was to assess the effect of relatively low dosages of supplemental vitamin D on vitamin D and bone status in Pakistani immigrants. This 1-year-long randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled intervention with vitamin D3 (10 and 20 μg/d) included girls (10·1–14·7 years), women (18·1–52·7 years) and men (17·9–63·5 years) of Pakistani origin living in Denmark. The main endpoints were serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (S-25OHD), parathyroid hormone, bone turnover markers and bone mass. The study showed that supplementation with 10 and 20 μg vitamin D3 per d increased S-25OHD concentrations similarly in vitamin D-deficient Pakistani women (4-fold), and that 10 μg increased S-25OHD concentrations 2-fold and 20 μg 3-fold in Pakistani men. S-25OHD concentrations increased at 6 months and were stable thereafter. Baseline S-25OHD concentrations tended to be lower in girls and women than in men; females achieved about 46 nmol/l and men 55 nmol/l after supplementation. Serum intact parathyroid hormone concentrations decreased at 6 months, but there was no significant effect of the intervention on bone turnover markers and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measurements of the whole body and lumbar spine.