Effect of vitamin D supplementation on selected inflammatory biomarkers in older adults: a secondary analysis of data from a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

What Was Tested

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

Thus, the researchers aimed to determine the effect of supplementary vitamin D using secondary data from a population-based, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial (Pilot D-Health trial 2010/0423).

Why It Was Studied

Participants were 60- to 84-year-old residents of one of the four eastern states of Australia.

Post-intervention blood samples for the analysis of C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, IL-10, leptin and adiponectin levels were available for 613 participants.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 613 participants taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

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

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

As a double-blind Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc could be set against what happens without it.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study would be practical.

What Was Measured

Post-intervention blood samples for the analysis of C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, IL-10, leptin and adiponectin levels were available for 613 participants.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Adipokines, Adiponectin, Biomarkers, C-Reactive Protein, Cholecalciferol, Cytokines and Dietary Supplements.

Author keywords: 25(OH)D 25-hydroxyvitamin D, CRP C-reactive protein, LAR leptin:adiponectin ratio, QR quantile regression, RCT randomised controlled trial and Supplementation.

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 613 participants.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

The publication is from 2015 (The British journal of nutrition), a journal based in England.

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