(HealthDay News) Vitamin D supplementation does not impact kidney outcomes in a population of individuals with a high risk for type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online Aug. 6 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Sun H. Kim, M.D., from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, and colleagues examined the effect of vitamin D supplementation on kidney outcomes in a population of overweight/obese adults with a high risk for type 2 diabetes. A total of 2,166 participants were randomly assigned to vitamin D3 or placebo for a median duration of 2.9 years.

The researchers found 28 and 30 cases of worsening of the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes risk score in the vitamin D and placebo groups, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.52 to 1.52). The mean difference in estimated glomerular filtration rate from baseline was −1.0 mL/min/1.73 m2 in the vitamin D group and −0.1 mL/min/1.73 m2 in the placebo group (between-group difference, −1.0 mL/min/1.73 m2; 95% confidence interval, −1.4 to −0.6). In the vitamin D and placebo groups, the mean difference in urine albumin-to-creatinine ratios was 2.7 mg/g and 2.0 mg/g, respectively (between group difference, 0.7 mg/g; 95% confidence interval, −1.5 to 2.9).

“The majority of the study population had sufficient blood vitamin D levels and normal kidney function,” Kim said in a statement. “Benefits of vitamin D might be greater in people with low blood vitamin D levels and/or reduced kidney function.”

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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