High-dose vitamin D in Addison's disease regulates T-cells and monocytes: A pilot trial.

What Was Tested

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

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 13 patients were involved.

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

How the Study Was Run

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

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

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.

Each person switched between Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

The primary outcome measures were changes in 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) levels and immune cells including T helper cells (Th; CD3+CD4+), late-activated Th cells (CD3+CD4+HLA-DR+), regulatory T cells (CD3+CD4+CD25brightCD127dim/neg), cytotoxic T cells (Tc; CD3+CD8+), late-activated Tc cells (CD3+CD8+HLA-DR+), and monocytes.

The explorative analysis included the correlation of changes with VD-related gene polymorphisms and 21-hydroxylase antibody titers.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Addison Disease, Calcifediol, Cholecalciferol, Monocytes, Pilot Projects, T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory and Vitamin D Deficiency.

Author keywords: 25(OH)D3 levels, Adrenal insufficiency, Cross-over trial, Genetic Profiling, Immune cells and Therapy.

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 13 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 abstract goes on to report its results in about 7 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2018 (Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.)), a journal based in United States.

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