Context: Altered vitamin D and calcium homeostasis may play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 DM).Evidence Acquisition and Analyses: MEDLINE review was conducted through January 2007 for observational studies and clinical trials in adults with outcomes related to glucose homeostasis. When data were available to combine, meta-analyses were performed, and summary odds ratios (OR) are presented. is increasing at an alarming rate both nationally and worldwide, with more than 1 million new cases per year diagnosed in the United States alone (1). Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, and it is also a major cause of significant morbidity. Although our current methods of treating type 2 DM and its complications have improved, prevention of the disease is preferable. Indeed, epidemiological data suggest that nine of 10 cases of type 2 DM could be attributed to habits and forms of modifiable behavior (2). Potentially modifiable environmental risk factors for type 2 DM have been identified, the major one being obesity. Although weight loss (achieved by any means) has been shown to be successful in delaying type 2 DM, it is difficult to achieve and maintain long term. Therefore, identification of environmental and easily modified risk factors is urgently needed to prevent development of type 2 DM in the 41 million Americans who are at risk of the disease (3).The major and most well-known function of vitamin D is to maintain calcium and phosphorus homeostasis and promote bone mineralization. However, recent evidence suggests that vitamin D and calcium homeostasis may also be important for a variety of nonskeletal outcomes including neuromuscular function and falls, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, and colorectal and prostate cancer (4, 5). Based on basic and animal studies, vitamin D and calcium have also been suspected as modifiers of diabetes risk. Vitamin D insufficiency has long been suspected as a risk factor for type 1 diabetes based on animal and human observational studies (6). More recently, there is accumulating evidence to suggest that altered vitamin D and calcium homeostasis may also play a role in the development of type 2 DM. The purpose of our systematic review was to examine: 1) the association between vitamin D and calcium status and risk of type 2 DM; and 2) the effect of vitamin D and/or calcium supplementation on glucose metabolism.
Materials and MethodsWe searched MEDLINE for English-language literature through January 2007 for observational studies on the association between vitamin D/calcium status (defined by serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) concentration, and vitamin D, calcium, or dairy intake) and type 2 DM (prevalence or incidence) and for randomized controlled trials of the effect of vitamin D and/or calcium supplementation in nonpregnant adults on outcomes related to glucose homeostasis. We also examined metabolic syndrome (prevalence or incidence) as an outcome of interest, given that insulin resistance, a feature of type 2 DM, is consid...