Vitamin D Improves Selected Metabolic Parameters but Not Neuropsychological or Quality of Life Indices in OSA: A Pilot Study.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Their group and others have reported a high rate of vitamin D deficiency in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), where vitamin D levels (25(OH) D) correlate negatively with OSA severity and some of its associated metabolic alterations.

Data regarding vitamin D supplementation in OSA are lacking.

The researchers wanted to evaluate the effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on OSA symptoms and metabolic parameters.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 19 adults taking part.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

Fifteen patients were stable on continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) therapy, whereas four were CPAP naïve.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and pilot study.

The adults were allocated by chance, so the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the adults nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

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.

Outcomes included sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale), quality of life (Sleep Apnea Quality of Life Inventory), fatigue (fatigue severity scale) and neuropsychological function (trail making test and Connor's Continuous Performance Test II).

In addition, the researchers assessed biochemical indices of vitamin D status (25(OH)D, calcium), inflammation (high sensitivity C-reactive protein, and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2), lipids (total cholesterol [low-density and high-density lipoprotein]) and glycemic indices (fasting glucose, oral glucose tolerance test).

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include C-Reactive Protein, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, Glycemic Index, Ireland, Lipids, Neuropsychological Tests and Pilot Projects.

Author keywords: inflammation, obstructive sleep apnea and vitamin D.

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 19 adults.

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 3 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2017 (Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine), a journal based in United States.

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