Vitamin D may prevent type 2 diabetes, clogged arteries

A new research has suggested that Vitamin D plays a major role in preventing the inflammation that leads to type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis.

The research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis argued the previous study that claimed vitamin D was linked to type 2 diabetes and heart disease, as the new study examined mice that lacked the ability to process vitamin D in immune cells involved in inflammation, and found that it made excess glucose, and accumulated plaques in its blood vessels.

Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, the senior investigator, said that inactivation of the vitamin D receptor induced diabetes and atherosclerosis, so it concluded that normalizing vitamin D levels might have the opposite effect, and inadequate vitamin D turned immune cells into transporters of fat.

Bernal-Mizrachi explained that inactivating the vitamin D receptor on monocytes and macrophages promotes inflammation of the liver and in artery walls, and also increases the ability of monocytes in the blood to adhere and migrate into blood vessel walls, where they deposit cholesterol and secrete inflammatory substances that lead to diabetes and heart disease.

The researchers are still practicing these findings on humans, but favored their findings as it's much easier to find treatments that target something in the blood than it is to target the same cells after they move into the wall of a blood vessel.

The research is published in the journal Cell Reports.