Vitamin D and skin repair: a prospective, double-blind and placebo controlled study in the healing of leg ulcers.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, published as a randomized controlled trial.

To analyze the relation between vitamin D insufficiency and wound healing in patients with venous ulcers; to correlate vitamin D insufficiency with characteristics of the ulcer (size and pain) and to evaluate if reposition of vitamin D in these subjects expedites ulcer healing.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 26 patients were involved.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were middle-aged adults, both men and women.

The researchers selected 26 patients with leg ulcers, and 26 control patients without ulcers, matched for gender, age, systemic arterial hypertension and tobacco use.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Blinding on both sides kept the patients and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

In the ulcer group, the researchers obtained data concerning demographics, leg ulcer size, as well as pain severity, measured by an analogical visual scale.

Data was grouped in contingency and frequency tables, the tests of Fisher and chi-squared being used for nominal variables and Mann-Whitney for numerical variables.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Skin Physiological Phenomena, Varicose Ulcer, Vitamin D, Vitamin D Deficiency, Vitamins and Wound Healing.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 26 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 7 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2013 (Revista do Colegio Brasileiro de Cirurgioes), a journal based in Brazil.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.