Monday Nov 4, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Epidemiological studies have already associated vitamin D deficiency with increased risk for cardiovascular disease.  But it still remains unknown whether vitamin D deficiency is a cause for high blood pressure.

Now a new study in PLos One confirmed that vitamin D deficiency can be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and there is evidence supporting such a causal relationship.

For the study,  mice with diet-induced vitamin D deficiency were fed vitamin D deficient or sufficient diet for six weeks and then switched to a high fat vitamin D deficient or sufficient diet for six to eight weeks.

Mice that were fed the vitamin D deficient diet developed systolic and diastolic blood pressure, high serum renin and decreased urinary sodium excretion.  And after switching to a vitamin d deficient diet, high blood pressure was reversed and renin was suppressed.

Also Sherry Weng and colleagues authors of the study found that on a high fat diet, vitamin D deficient mice suffered about 2 times greater atherosclerosis in the aortic arch and 2 to 8 times greater atherosclerosis in the thoracic and abdominal aorta, compared with vitamin D sufficient mice.

The researchers suggested "vitamin D deficiency activates both the renin angiotensin system and macrophage ER stress to contribute to the development of hypertension and accelerated atherosclerosis, highlighting vitamin D replacement as a potential therapy to reduce blood pressure and atherosclerosis." (David Liu)

Weng S, Sprague JE, Oh J, Riek AE, Chin K, et al. (2013) Vitamin D Deficiency Induces High Blood Pressure and Accelerates Atherosclerosis in Mice. PLoS ONE 8(1): e54625. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054625