The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Ankylosing Spondylitis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Vitamin D May Improve Heart Health in Patients with Lupus

Vitamin D May Improve Heart Health in Patients with Lupus

April 4, 2016 • By Lara C. Pullen, PhD

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

Heart_BrandX_GettyImages_500x270Individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other inflammatory diseases are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This risk seems to stem from a dysfunction in endothelial repair mechanisms. More specifically, individuals with SLE have a decreased number of myeloid angiogenic cells (MACs), which are known to be important for vascular repair, therefore implicating these cells in the documented endothelial dysfunction. Myeloid cells are known to express functional vitamin D receptors and respond in vitro to the active form of vitamin D (calcitriol). Taken together, the observations have led investigators to wonder whether vitamin D may improve cardiovascular risk in patients with SLE. John A. Reynolds, MRCP, PhD, a clinical lecturer at the University of Manchester in the U.K., and colleagues investigated this question and published their results online on March 1 in Scientific Reports.1

You Might Also Like
  • Vitamin D May Improve Outcomes for Patients with Early RA
  • Taking Vitamin D Supplements May Not Improve Bone Health
  • Improve RA Care with Vitamin D
Also By This Author
  • Telomere Length Provides Insights into Cartilage Aging and Repair

The researchers began by isolating and characterizing MACs from blood samples taken from patients with SLE who were vitamin D deficient (25(OH)D <20 ng/mL), patients with SLE who were vitamin D sufficient and healthy controls. They found the MACs from patients with SLE presented with a global impairment, including decreased migration and angiogenic capacity.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

“Importantly, this study shows that SLE MACs demonstrate impaired migratory capacity towards SDF-1α [stromal cell-derived factor 1α] in vitro, which may contribute to the impaired endothelial repair reported in this patient group,” write the authors in their discussion.

Additionally, they found when MACs from patients with SLE who were vitamin D deficient were cultured with calcitriol, the MACs expanded. In contrast, MACs from patients with SLE who were vitamin D sufficient did not demonstrate a response to calcitriol. The investigators wanted to examine the response more carefully, but were concerned about the confounding potential of the MAC heterogeneity seen in the SLE patient population. Thus, they established an in vitro model for the study of SLE MACs.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The in vitro model involved first isolating MACs from healthy control individuals and then treating the MACs with interferon (IFN) α2b. This treatment replicated the SLE MAC phenotype in vitro and provided an opportunity to investigate the direct effects of calcitriol on MACs.

“The angiogenic capacity of MACs is fundamental to their role in endothelial repair and we identified a number of pro- and anti-angiogenic factors differentially regulated by calcitriol in PBMCs [peripheral blood mononuclear cells],” write the authors. One of these was the interferon gamma-induced chemokine CXCL-10.

Because the investigators focused their efforts on their in vitro IFN model, they could not conclude with any certainty that their observations could be generalized to the SLE patient population. To address this limitation, they evaluated the effect of vitamin D in patients with SLE. The researchers treated vitamin D-deficient patients with SLE with cholecalciferol (400,000 IU, followed by 20,000 IU weekly for 12 weeks). They documented an improvement in endothelial function that correlated with the increase in serum 25(OH)D concentrations. The improvement in endothelial function was independent of disease activity.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The researchers, thus, concluded that treatment with vitamin D may be able to modify endothelial repair mechanisms in patients with SLE, thereby improving endothelial function and decreasing cardiovascular risk.


Lara C. Pullen, PhD, is a medical writer based in the Chicago area.

References

  1. Reynolds JA, Haque S, Williamson K, et al. Vitamin D improves endothelial dysfunction and restores myeloid angiogenic cell function via reduced CXCL-10 expression in systemic lupus erythematosus. Sci Rep. 2016 Mar 1;6:22341. doi: 10.1038/srep22341.

Pages: 1 2 | Multi-Page

Filed Under: Conditions, SLE (Lupus) Tagged With: cardiovascular, Cardiovascular disease, Lupus, myeloid angiogenic cell (MAC), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Vitamin D

You Might Also Like:
  • Vitamin D May Improve Outcomes for Patients with Early RA
  • Taking Vitamin D Supplements May Not Improve Bone Health
  • Improve RA Care with Vitamin D
  • Family, Fatigue & Heart Health

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

Rheumatology Research Foundation

The Foundation is the largest private funding source for rheumatology research and training in the U.S.

Learn more »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2021 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.