Can adverse effects of excessive vitamin D supplementation occur without developing hypervitaminosis D?
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to investigate the potential risks of prolonged and disproportionate vitamin D supplementation, particularly its effects on calcium and phosphorus dysregulation.
Results Summary
The study found that prolonged vitamin D supplementation may induce hypercalcemia, hypercalciuria, and hyperphosphatemia, which are early signs of vitamin D intoxication, potentially leading to tissue and organ damage even without hypervitaminosis D.
Population
Not specified (general discussion on vitamin D supplementation effects).
Effective Dosage
Not specified (discusses "prolonged and disproportionate consumption").
Duration
Not specified (mentions "prolonged consumption").
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
prolonged and disproportionate consumption of vitamin D supplements | increase | vitamin D intoxication | - | - | may lead to | #1 |
prolonged consumption of vitamin D supplementation | increase | hypercalcemia | - | - | may induce | #2 |
prolonged consumption of vitamin D supplementation | increase | hypercalciuria | - | - | may induce | #3 |
prolonged consumption of vitamin D supplementation | increase | hyperphosphatemia | - | - | may induce | #4 |
calcium and phosphorus dysregulation, induced by exogenous vitamin D supplementation | increase | tissue and organ damages | - | - | may lead to | #5 |
vitamin D supplementation | increase | serum vitamin D levels | - | to the toxic range | rarely raises | #6 |
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble hormone that has endocrine, paracrine and autocrine functions. Consumption of vitamin D-supplemented food & drugs have increased significantly in the last couple of decades due to campaign and awareness programs. Despite such wide use of artificial vitamin D supplements, serum level of 25 hydroxyvitamin D does not always reflect the amount of uptake. In contrast to the safe sunlight exposure, prolonged and disproportionate consumption of vitamin D supplements may lead to vitamin D intoxication, even without developing hypervitaminosis D. One of the reasons why vitamin D supplementation is believed to be safe is, it rarely raises serum vitamin D levels to the toxic range even after repeated intravenous ingestion of extremely high doses of synthetic vitamin D analogs. However, prolonged consumption of vitamin D supplementation may induce hypercalcemia, hypercalciuria and hyperphosphatemia, which are considered to be the initial signs of vitamin D intoxication. It is likely that calcium and phosphorus dysregulation, induced by exogenous vitamin D supplementation, may lead to tissue and organ damages, even without developing hypervitaminosis D. It is needed to be emphasized that, because of tight homeostatic control of calcium and phosphorus, when hypercalcemia and/or hyperphosphatemia is apparent following vitamin D supplementation, the process of tissue and/or organ damage might already have been started.