How Vitamin D May Affect Heart Disease, Diabetes

NIH | MARCH 30, 2015

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Chronic inflammation plays a role in both of these diseases, and most immune cells have receptors for vitamin D. Binding of vitamin D to its receptor regulates many key processes inside cells.

A team of researchers from Washington University School of Medicine set out to examine the connections among vitamin D, immune function, atherosclerosis, and insulin resistance. They genetically altered mice to lack vitamin D receptors in 2 types of inflammation-related immune cells: monocytes and macrophages. Without these receptors, the cells couldn’t respond to vitamin D.

Both types of mice developed insulin resistance. The engineered mice also developed atherosclerosis that was spurred by monocytes lacking vitamin D receptors.

When the researchers added normal immune cells back into the engineered mice, their insulin sensitivity improved and atherosclerosis declined. This finding showed that vitamin D pathways in immune cells play a key role in chronic inflammation that, in turn, affects development of insulin resistance and atherosclerosis.

Inactivation of the vitamin D receptor induced diabetes and atherosclerosis, so normalizing vitamin D levels may have the opposite effect.

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