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Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has been shown to have important effects on the development of coronary artery disease (CAD) via local paracrine influences on the vascular bed. We compared a cohort of asymptomatic patients with Type II Diabetes (DM) without known CAD to an age and gender matched group of asymptomatic patients without DM from the CTRAD study in which patients underwent a cardiac computed tomography angiogram (CTA), for early detection of CAD. Mean EAT volumes of 118.6 ± 43.0 and 70.0 ± 44.0 cm3 were found in the DM and non-DM groups respectively. When stratified by presence and severity of CAD, it was found that in the DM (p=0.003) and non-DM groups (p<0.001) there was a statistically significant increase in EAT volume as the patients were found to have increasingly severe CAD. After adjusting for age, race, gender, DM, hypertension, insulin use, BMI, and coronary artery calcium (CAC) score, the presence of >120 cm3 of EAT was found to be highly correlated with the presence of significant CAD (Adjusted Odds Ratio 4.47, 95% CI (1.35–14.82)). We found that not only is EAT volume an independent predictor of CAD, but that an increasing volume of EAT predicted increasing severity of CAD even after adjustment for CAC score.

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The aim of the present study was to investigate whether vitamin D supplementation could improve biochemical findings and functional capacity of patients with heart failure (HF). One hundred patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I through III HF were included in this prospective study and their 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were evaluated. Only 6% of the participants had a sufficient serum concentration of 25(OH) D >30 nmol/L. Patients with insufficient or deficient serum levels of 25(OH) D (<30 ng/mL and <20 ng/mL, respectively) received oral vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) for a total period of 4 months. Vitamin D supplementation increased mean serum concentration of 25(OH) D from 12.63±7.60 nmol/L to 54.49±18.01 nmol/L (P<.001). After vitamin D supplementation, the serum level of pro-brain natriuretic peptide markedly decreased (P<.001). Cholecalciferol significantly decreased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level (P<.001). Restoration of serum 25(OH) D level was also associated with substantial improvement in NYHA class (P<.001) and 6-minute walk distance (P<.001).