Raynaud’s phenomenon and vitamin D

Abstract

To our knowledge, there have not been studies to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). To test in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind, and prospective way whether 8 weeks of 600,000 IU monthly supplementation of oral vitamin D3 would contribute to improvements in RP, 53 patients describing RP were recruited during winter 2010-2011. 42 patients were deficient in vitamin D dosage and randomly assigned into either the vitamin D group or placebo group. Every 4 weeks (for a total of 3 doses), patients received their treatment and answered on a visual analogue scale (VAS) basis about their RP. In the vitamin D group, baseline average blood vitamin D level was 20.9 ng/mL. VAS 0, VAS 1, and VAS 2 were 58.33, 48.09, and 36.2, respectively. At the end of the study, the average blood vitamin D level was 32.9 ng/mL. In the placebo group, baseline average blood vitamin D level was 21.8 ng/mL. VAS 0, VAS 1, and VAS 2 were 58.33, 51.19, and 64.28, respectively. At the end of the study, the average blood vitamin D level was 23.2 ng/mL. Following our observations, we concluded to an objective augmentation of vitamin D blood level and RP self-judgment improvement after 8 weeks of monthly supplementation of vitamin D3. One can ask whether vitamin D has as a vasodilator effect in patients with RP who are deficient in vitamin D. Other studies and researches are needed to answer these questions.