Effects of Supplemental Vitamin D on Bone Health Outcomes in Women and Men in the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL).

What Was Tested

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

Although supplemental vitamin D is used to promote bone health in the general population, data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been inconsistent.

Primary endpoints were 2-year changes in areal (a) BMD at the spine, hip, and whole body determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 25,871 adults taking part.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

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.

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

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

Total 25(OH)D levels were measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (Quest Diagnostics, San Juan Capistrano, CA, USA).

Free 25(OH)D (FVD) levels were measured using the ELISA assay by Future Diagnostics Solutions BV (Wijchen, Netherlands).

What Was Measured

Primary endpoints were 2-year changes in areal (a) BMD at the spine, hip, and whole body determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Secondary endpoints were 2-year changes in volumetric (v) BMD and cortical thickness at the radius and tibia assessed by peripheral quantitative computed tomography.

The subject headings attached to it are Absorptiometry, Photon, Bone Density, Dietary Supplements, Fatty Acids, Omega-3, Femur Neck, Fibroblast Growth Factor-23 and Netherlands.

The authors tagged it with the keywords BONE QCT, DXA, GENERAL POPULATION STUDIES, OSTEOPOROSIS and PTH/VITD/FGF23.

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 25,871 adults.

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

The publication is from 2020 (Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research), a journal based in England.

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