Treatment with one-alpha-hydroxycholecalciferol in middle-aged men with impaired glucose tolerance--a prospective randomized double-blind study

Abstract

Experimental evidence suggests a specific role for the active metabolite of vitamin D (1,25(OH)2D3) in insulin secretion. In order to evaluate the possible clinical significance, 65 middle-aged men with impaired glucose tolerance, and normal serum levels of vitamin D metabolites, were enrolled in a three-month study where they were given either 0.75 micrograms alpha-calcidol (1 alpha(OH)D3) daily or placebo. Indices of glucose and lipid metabolism were evaluated before and after treatment. There were no significant changes during the trial neither for fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c or for the intravenous glucose tolerance between the treatment and the placebo groups, nor were there any consistent changes in insulin values during the glucose tolerance test. Subjects treated with alpha-calcidol displayed a significant reduction in body weight with an average of 1.1 kg, while those receiving placebo lost no weight. Treatment did not affect the serum lipoprotein values. Thus, a modest dose of active vitamin D, which did not cause elevation of serum calcium, did not provide general improvement of glucose tolerance or of insulin secretion when given to patients with impaired glucose tolerance, but without vitamin D deficiency, over a three-month period.