Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Faecal Microbiota: A Randomised Clinical Trial

Negar Naderpoor,Marloes Dekker Nitert,Barbora De Courten,Luisa Fernanda Gomez Arango,Helen L Barrett,Aya Mousa

doi:10.3390/nu11122888

Negar Naderpoor, Marloes Dekker Nitert + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11122888

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Abstract

In animal studies, vitamin D supplementation has been shown to improve gut microbiota and intestinal inflammation. However, limited evidence exists on the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the human gut microbiota. We examined the effect of vitamin D supplementation on faecal microbiota in 26 vitamin D-deficient (25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) ≤50 nmol/L), overweight or obese (BMI ≥25 kg/m2) otherwise healthy adults. Our study was ancillary to a community based double-blind randomised clinical trial, conducted between 2014 and 2016. The participants provided stool samples at baseline and after 100,000 international units (IU) loading dose of cholecalciferol followed by 4000 IU daily or matching placebo for 16 weeks. Faecal microbiota was analysed using 16S rRNA sequencing; V6–8 region. There was no significant difference in microbiome α-diversity between vitamin D and placebo groups at baseline and follow-up (all p > 0.05). In addition, no clustering was found based on vitamin D supplementation at follow-up (p = 0.3). However, there was a significant association between community composition and vitamin D supplementation at the genus level (p = 0.04). The vitamin D group had a higher abundance of genus Lachnospira, and lower abundance of genus Blautia (linear discriminate analysis >3.0). Moreover, individuals with 25(OH)D >75 nmol/L had a higher abundance of genus Coprococcus and lower abundance of genus Ruminococcus compared to those with 25(OH)D <50 nmol/L. Our findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation has some distinct effects on faecal microbiota. Future studies need to explore whether these effects would translate into improved clinical outcomes.

Highlights

Vitamin D deficiency is common worldwide mainly as a result of increased time spent indoors and increased use of sun protection to reduce the risk of skin cancer [1]
The absence of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in VDR-knockout mice resulted in gut microbiota dysbiosis compared to the wild-type mice [17,18] and treatment with vitamin D in a different study ameliorated inflammatory lesions and symptoms in mouse models of colitis [15]
Very few observational and mechanistic studies have investigated the interactions between vitamin D and the gut microbiota and to our knowledge, there has been no previous randomised clinical trials (RCTs) examining the effect of vitamin D supplementation on human faecal microbiota

Summary

Introduction

Vitamin D deficiency is common worldwide mainly as a result of increased time spent indoors and increased use of sun protection to reduce the risk of skin cancer [1]. The effect of vitamin D on the gut microbiota has been proposed as a potential mechanism through which vitamin D may exert its role in insulin resistance and inflammation. The absence of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in VDR-knockout mice resulted in gut microbiota dysbiosis compared to the wild-type mice [17,18] and treatment with vitamin D in a different study ameliorated inflammatory lesions and symptoms in mouse models of colitis [15]. Very few observational and mechanistic studies have investigated the interactions between vitamin D and the gut microbiota and to our knowledge, there has been no previous RCT examining the effect of vitamin D supplementation on human faecal microbiota

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