EFFECTIVENESS OF VITAMIN D IN MONITORING OF PEDIATRIC HYPERTENSION: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Abstract

The antihypertensive properties of vitamin D include Renoprotective effects, suppression of the renin–angiotensin aldosterone system, direct effects on vascular cells, and effects on calcium metabolism, including prevention of secondary hyperparathyroidism. Low levels of vitamin D are associated with elevated blood pressure (BP) and future cardiovascular events. There has been a recent debate regarding the role of vitamin D deficiency in hypertension based on conflicting epidemiological evidence. Five authors independently searched Medline, Cochrane PubMed, and Medline according to a prespecified protocol for searching about the studies that had assessed the effect of vitamin D supplement on pediatric hypertension in order to map the trends in the evidence of this association. The main end-points were measurements of systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The Total number of forty- eight randomized control trials and case-control studies were reviewed and only nine studies were included in our systematic review study, with a minimum follow-up of 4 months. These eight studies showed a nonsignificant reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the vitamin D group compared with placebo. We found weak evidence to support a small effect of vitamin D on blood pressure in studies of hypertensive pediatric patients.