By investigating the effect that vitamin D-3 has on the cells that make up the lining of blood vessels, a team of scientists from Ohio State University in Columbus (USA) has identified for the first time the role of “sunshine vitamin” in the preservation of cardiovascular health.
In an article published in the International Journal of Nanomedicine , the authors describe how they used nanosensors and a cell model to identify the molecular mechanisms that vitamin D-3 can trigger in the endothelium, the thin layer of tissue that lines blood vessels.
The endothelium acts more like an organ that lines the entire circulatory system from the “heart to the smallest capillaries” and whose cells carry out many unique biological functions.
Changes in the endothelium have been linked to various health problems, such as high blood pressure, insulin resistance, diabetes, tumor growth, or atherosclerosis.
The role of vitamin D3
The new study suggests that vitamin D-3, a version of vitamin D that our bodies naturally produce when we expose our skin to the sun , plays a key role in preserving and restoring endothelial damage caused by these diseases. Some other natural sources of vitamin D-3 include egg yolks or oily fish, as well as in the form of supplements.
“However, in recent years, in clinical settings people have recognized that many heart attack patients are deficient in D-3. It does not mean that the deficiency causes the heart attack, but it did increase the risk of heart attack. ” , clarifies Tadeusz Malinski, leader of the work.
Nanosensors tested the effect of D-3 on cells
For their study, Malinski and his colleagues developed a measurement system that uses nanosensors or tiny probes that are 1,000 times smaller than the thickness of human hair and that can operate at the atomic and molecular level . They used the nanosensors to track the impact of vitamin D-3 on molecular mechanisms in human endothelial cells that had been treated to show the same type of damage that occurs from high blood pressure.
The findings suggest that vitamin D-3 is a potent trigger for nitric oxide , which is a molecule that plays an important signaling role in the control of blood flow and the formation of blood clots in blood vessels. In the same way, they also found that vitamin D-3 significantly reduces oxidative stress in the vascular system.
They note that their study “provides direct molecular information to previously published observations suggesting that vitamin D-3 deficiency-induced hypertension is associated with vascular oxidative stress.” The effects of vitamin D-3 were similar in Caucasian and African-American endothelial cells.
Could this vitamin reverse cardiovascular damage?
According to the scientists, while their findings come from tests performed on a cellular model of high blood pressure, “The implications of vitamin D-3’s influence on dysfunctional endothelium are much broader.”
They suggest that vitamin D-3 has the potential to significantly reverse the damage that high blood pressure, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and other diseases that take their toll on the cardiovascular system.
According to Malinski, “This is a very inexpensive solution to repair the cardiovascular system. We don’t have to develop a new drug. We already have it.”
Referencia: Nanomedical studies of the restoration of nitric oxide/peroxynitrite balance in dysfunctional endothelium by 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 – clinical implications for cardiovascular diseases. International Journal of Nanomedicine DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S152822
