Lower risk of diabetes with good vitamin D supply

Scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München have discovered together with partners from the German Diabetes Center and the University of Ulm Dusseldorf that people with a good supply of vitamin D have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study was based on the evaluation of old data and determined study provide important clues to the mechanism of formation and prevention of disease.

The human body can produce sufficient amount of vitamin D itself only when the people stay long enough in the open. The UVB radiation present in daylight splits the precursor of vitamin D, 7-dehydrocholesterol in the skin, it creates previtamin D3. The more vitamin D synthesis is then carried out in the liver and kidney. Lack of appropriate sunlight - such as in the winter due to the geographical latitude - danger of a shortage. The problem is exacerbated by the modern lifestyle, which often does not require longer stays outdoors more.

Researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München have studied together with partners participants in the MONICA / KORA study for their vitamin D status. As part of the MONICA / KORA studies are at the Helmholtz Zentrum München since 1984, data collected from the Augsburg population. MONICA stands for Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Diseases and was under KORA - continued Health Research in the Augsburg Region Cooperative.

The researchers found that people with a good vitamin D supply have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus disease. For people with insufficient levels of vitamin D in the blood, by contrast, there is an increased risk of diabetes. This effect could be in part to the anti-reducing effect of vitamin D-recirculate. The result of the performed among others in collaboration with Christian Herder, German Diabetes Center Dusseldorf and Wolfgang Koenig of the University of Ulm Helmholtz Zentrum München study could have direct implications for the prevention of endemic disease. Researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München have access to the data from the MONICA / KORA Augsburg study the unique opportunity to explore the relationships between lifestyle factors and type 2 diabetes in more detail.

The vitamin D supply is relatively easy to improve by a sufficient outdoor exposure (in Germany from spring to autumn), and by the absorption of vitamin D-containing supplements. Therefore, it is particularly relevant to clarify in future studies whether the association between vitamin D status and incidence of type 2 diabetes, the Helmholtz researchers have observed in the population-based MONICA / KORA study, is causal. If subsequent studies confirm this, could reduce the risk of diabetes targeted improving the vitamin D status of the population.