Vitamin D Benefits Obese Patients With OA

Recent research from the University of Florida (UF) has found that individuals who are obese and have osteoarthritis (OA) can benefit from vitamin D. Specifically, higher levels of vitamin D may decrease pain and improve function in obese individuals with osteoarthritis.

“Adequate vitamin D may be significant to improving osteoarthritis pain because it affects bone quality and protects cell function to help reduce inflammation. Vitamin D maintains calcium and phosphate concentration levels to keep bones strong, ” said lead author Toni L. Glover, Ph.D. in the March 30, 2015 news release. Dr. Glover is an assistant professor in the UF College of Nursing, part of UF Health. “Increased pain due to osteoarthritis could limit physical activity, including outdoor activity, which would lead to both decreased vitamin D levels and increased obesity.”

The researchers analyzed blood samples for 256 middle-aged and older adults, while participants self-reported on knee OA pain. The participants also completed functional performance tasks such as balance, walking and rising from sitting to standing. Among the 126 obese participants, 68 were vitamin D-deficient while only 29 of the 130 non-obese participants were deficient.

“Vitamin D is inexpensive, available over-the-counter and toxicity is fairly rare, ” Dr. Glover said. “Older obese patients with chronic pain should discuss their vitamin D status with their primary care provider. If it’s low, take a supplement and get judicious sun exposure.”

Dr. Glover told OTW, “We expected that vitamin D status would be associated with obesity as other research has supported that vitamin D is sequestered in fat cells and less available for its biological actions. The finding of most interest is that obese individuals with deficient or insufficient levels of vitamin D had poorer lower extremity functional performance (standing up from a seated position and walking a short course) than obese individuals with adequate vitamin D levels. Impacting function in older adults with OA is important to slowing the progression of the long-term sequelae of OA.”

“This study is part of a larger trial examining ethnic/racial differences in osteoarthritis pain (Ethnic Differences in Responses to Painful Stimuli (R37AG033906), National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging Merit Award. PI: Roger B. Fillingim). The study is ongoing and we continue to examine the relationship of vitamin D status to OA pain and health disparities in pain. Ultimately, the goal is to supplement with vitamin D in a blinded design to assess the impact of correcting vitamin D deficiency. Other research findings in this area are equivocal.”