Improvement of vitamin D status resulted in amelioration of biomarkers of systemic inflammation in the subjects with type 2 diabetes

Background Both vitamin D deficiency and inflammation have been linked to cardiovascular disease, the major cause of death in diabetes. In this study, the effects of daily intake of vitamin D-fortified yoghourt drink (doogh )o n systemic inflammatory biomarkers in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D) were investigated. Subjects and methods In this 12-week randomized controlled trial, T2D subjects received either plain doogh (PD; containing 170 mg calcium and no detectable vitamin D/250 mL, n1=50) or vitamin D3-fortified doogh (FD; containing 170 mg calcium and 500 IU/250 mL, n2=50) twice a day. Glycemic status, body fat mass and systemic inflammatory biomarkers including serum highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), serum amyloid A (SAA), interleukin(IL)-2, IL-6, IL-10 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-a were evaluated at the beginning and after the intervention. Data were expressed as either mean SD or median (interquartile range) whenever they had either normal or non-normal distribution, respectively. Results In the patients receiving the vitamin D fortified drink, compared with those receiving the unfortified drink, a significant increase in serum 25(OH)D was accompanied by significant changes in TNF-a (57.9 (264.6) versus +106.3 (683.2), p=0.044), IL-6 (6.3 (69.2), p=0.002), hsCRP (0.39 (1.50) versus +0.8 (1.52), p<0.001), SAA (14.244.5 versus +5.637.5 mg/L, p=0.022) and IL-10 (+38.7157.0 versus 51.9 165.2 ng/L, p=0.013). The between-group differences of hsCRP, SAA and IL-6 changes remained significant even after controlling for changes quantitative insulin check index (p<0.001, p<0.001 and p=0.009, respectively). Conclusions Improvement of vitamin D status of T2D subjects resulted in amelioration of the systemic inflammatory markers. This may have preventive implications against cardiovascular disease and other diabetic complications. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.