High-dose vitamin D supplementation in pediatric patients with emerging type 1 diabetes may reduce complications, according to a study published online on Aug. 18 in Frontiers in Endocrinology.

Vitamin D for Type 1 Diabetes in Children

Benjamin Udoka Nwosu, MD, of the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New Hyde Park, New York, randomly assigned 36 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes to receive vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol, administered as much as 50,000 units internationally per week for two months and then weekly for 10 months) or a placebo.

The average change rate was 0.14 percent every three months for vitamin D, as opposed to 0.46 percent for the placebo group, which was substantially related to reduced hemoglobin A1c temporal rises.

In addition, vitamin D was significantly associated with a functional marker of partial clinical remission, hemoglobin A1c adjusted to insulin dose at an average change rate of 0.30 percent every three months compared to 0.77 percent every three months for the placebo group.

We advise estimating the level of 25(OH)D at the time of type 1 diabetes diagnosis and starting vitamin D supplementation if the class is below 30 ng/mL in order to keep serum 25(OH)D concentrations between 30 and 60 ng/mL, Nwosu wrote.