Journal Article DKFZ-2026-01836

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Effect of vitamin D supplementation on cardiovascular outcomes: randomized trials revisited.

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2026
Springer Nature Switzerland AG [Cham]

European journal of epidemiology nn, nn () [10.1007/s10654-026-01438-7]
 GO

Abstract: This study aims to estimate the effects of vitamin D supplementation on cardiovascular diseases in populations with different baseline vitamin D distributions, by emulating the VITAL and D-Health trials within the UK Biobank. We emulated randomized trials using subcohorts of the UK Biobank selected to match the inclusion criteria of the VITAL and D-Health trials (n = 237,502 and 185,809, respectively). Exposures were defined as increases in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D concentrations of 30 nmol/L and 38 nmol/L, corresponding to the intervention effects in the trials. Outcomes included cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and major adverse cardiovascular events. Expected hazard ratios over trial median follow-up durations of 5.3 and 5.7 years were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. Vitamin D insufficiency was more common in the UK Biobank than in the original trials. When participants were weighted to match the trial baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin-D distributions, the expected effects became more similar to the largely null findings reported in the original trials. By contrast, among individuals with vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency, increases in 25-hydroxyvitamin-D concentration as achieved in the trials were associated with significantly lower risks of cardiovascular outcomes, except ischemic stroke. For cardiovascular mortality, hazard ratios ranged from 0.74 (95% CI 0.62-0.88) to 0.79 (95% CI 0.69-0.91) across both trial emulations. The largely null findings observed in the trials may partly reflect that the trial populations were predominantly vitamin D-replete. Our emulated trials suggest that substantial cardiovascular benefits from vitamin D supplementation may be expected among populations with low vitamin D status.

Keyword(s): Cardiovascular diseases ; Dose–response ; Emulation ; Hazard ratio ; Randomized controlled trials ; Vitamin D

Classification:

Note: #EA:M320#LA:M320#

Contributing Institute(s):
  1. Koordinierungsstelle der Cancer Prevention GS (M320)
  2. Klinische Epidemiologie der Krebsfrüherkennung (C070)
Research Program(s):
  1. 313 - Krebsrisikofaktoren und Prävention (POF4-313) (POF4-313)

Appears in the scientific report 2026
Database coverage:
Medline ; BIOSIS Previews ; Biological Abstracts ; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Clinical Medicine ; Current Contents - Life Sciences ; DEAL Springer ; DEAL Springer ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF >= 10 ; JCR ; National-Konsortium ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Web of Science Core Collection
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 Record created 2026-07-23, last modified 2026-07-24



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