Cholecalciferol decreases inflammation and improves vitamin D regulatory enzymes in lymphocytes in the uremic environment: A randomized controlled pilot trial.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

It has been reported that vitamin D regulates the immune system.

However, whether vitamin D repletion modulates inflammatory responses in lymphocytes from dialysis patients is unclear.

Who Took Part

The study group was 16 patients.

In the clinical trial, thirty-two (32) dialysis patients with 25 vitamin D ≤ 20ng/mL were randomized to receive either supplementation of cholecalciferol 100,000 UI/week/3 months (16 patients) or placebo (16 patients).

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.

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

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group a baseline to be compared against.

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

The researchers evaluated the intracellular expression of IL-6, IFN-γ TLR7, TLR9, VDR, CYP27b1 and CYP24a1 by flow cytometry.

PubMed files the paper under topics including 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 1-alpha-Hydroxylase, Case-Control Studies, Cholecalciferol, Cytokines, Inflammation, Inflammation Mediators and Pilot Projects.

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 16 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.

The publication is from 2017 (PloS one), a journal based in United States.

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