CKD and Vit D

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The calcimimetic cinacalcet reduced the risk of death or cardiovascular (CV) events in older, but not younger, patients with moderate to severe secondary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) who were receiving hemodialysis. To determine whether the lower risk in younger patients might be due to lower baseline CV risk and more frequent use of cointerventions that reduce parathyroid hormone (kidney transplantation, parathyroidectomy, and commercial cinacalcet use), this study examined the effects of cinacalcet in older (≥65 years, n=1005) and younger (<65 years, n=2878) patients...

Two recent vitamin D supplementation (ergocalciferol) trials in stage G5D CKD patients with vitamin D insufficiency showed that this sterol effectively increases serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] but fails to modify serum PTH and other clinical outcomes. The Pro side of this polar view emphasizes that the duration of these studies was too short to allow sensible analyses based on a clinical endpoint. Furthermore, he notes that in the second study, the use of active forms of vitamin D, phosphate binders and cinacalcet could have hindered appreciation of the effect of ergocalciferol supplementation per se The Con side produces an updated meta-analysis showing that inactive vitamin D forms largely fail to reduce serum PTH and affect various relevant endpoints, including muscle strength, functional capacity, quality of life and hospitalization...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. CVD has a significant impact on health care systems worldwide and over 23 million individuals are expected to succumb to the disease by 2030. Early onset of atherosclerosis in childhood along with other risk factors of CVD, including elevated circulating lipids, have been shown to persist in adulthood and lead to CVD. Vitamin D deficiency is considered a risk factor for the pathogenesis of CVD, with childhood nutritional status of vitamin D being an important determinant of the development of CVD...

Approximately 30%-50% of people are recognized to have low levels of vitamin D, and insufficiency and deficiency of vitamin D are recognized as global health problems worldwide. Although the presence of hypovitamin D increases the risk of rickets and fractures, low vitamin D levels are also associated with hypertension, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. In addition, diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are also related to vitamin D levels. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to onset and progression of DM...