Table 1.

Double-blind, placebo- and randomized-controlled trials that favor supplement with vitamin D may have a beneficial cardiovascular effects

Ref.	Country	Participants	Intervention	Duration of follow-up	Results
Forman et al[43]	United States	283 African-American	Oral vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol, 1000, 2000, or 4000 IU), or placebo per day for 3 mo	6 mo	Reduction in systolic pressure.
		subjects
Harris et al[44]	United States	45 African-American adults	60000 IU monthly oral vitamin D(3) or placebo for 16 wk	16 wk	Effective at improving vascular endothelial function
Larsen et al[45]	Denmark	112 Hypertensive patients	75 µg (3000 IU) cholecalciferol per day or placebo for 20 wk	20 wk	Significant decreases in systolic blood pressure
Lind et al[46]	Sweden	65 subjects with impaired glucose tolerance	Alphacalcidol (0.75 microgram daily) or placebo over 12 wk	12 wk	Significant reduction of blood pressure
Lind et al[47]	Sweden	65 Hypertensive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism	Alphacalcidol, (1 microgram daily) or placebo over 6 mo	6 mo	Significant reduction of blood pressure
Longenecker et al[48]	United States	45 HIV-infected individuals with vitamin D deficiency	Vitamin D3 4000 IU daily or placebo for 12 wk	12 wk	Modestly improved cholesterol
Salehpour et al[49]	Iran.	77 healthy premenopausal overweight and obese women	Vitamin D (25 μg/d as cholecalciferol) or the placebo group for 12 wk	12 wk.	Significantly improvement of HDL-cholesterol, apoA-I
					concentrations and LDL-cholesterol:apoB-100 ratio.
Shedeed[50]	Egypt	80 infants with CHF	Vitamin D(3) oral drops or placebo oral drops for 12 wk	12 wk	Significant improvement of HF score, LV end-diastolic diameter, LV end-systolic diameter, LV ejection fraction%, and myocardial performance index.
Witham et al[51]	United Kingdom	58 stroke patients	100000 units of a single oral dose of vitamin D2 or placebo	16 wk	Short-term improvement in endothelial function (Flow mediated dilatation was significantly higher in the intervention group at 8 wk)
Zittermann et al[52]	Germany	200 healthy overweight subjects in a weight-reduction program	Vitamin D (83 microg/d) or placebo for 12 mo	12 mo	Significant improvement of cardiovascular disease risk markers

LV: Left-ventricular; CHF: Congestive heart failure; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; IU: International units.