Vitamin D supplements may improve kidney transplant recipients' health

Adequate vitamin D levels are important for maintaining kidney transplant recipients' health, according to a study that will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2013 November 5-10 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

In the study that included 264 , researchers led by Yoshitsugu Obi, MD, PhD (Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, in Japan) measured patients' baseline blood levels of vitamin D and examined their links with decline, rejection episodes, and death.

Vitamin D levels had an almost linear relationship with annual kidney function decline. Also, with vitamin D sufficiency (≥20 ng/mL) as the reference, vitamin D inadequacy (≥12 and <20 ng/mL) and deficiency (<12 ng/mL) showed significant dose-dependent associations with higher risks of organ rejection and death.

"Low vitamin D predicts adverse allograft outcomes, and vitamin D supplementation early after kidney transplantation may improve patient outcome," the authors concluded.

More information: Study: "Low Vitamin D and Adverse Allograft Outcomes in Kidney Transplant Recipients (Abstract 1603)

Citation: Vitamin D supplements may improve kidney transplant recipients' health (2013, November 8) retrieved 29 March 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-11-vitamin-d-supplements-kidney-transplant.html
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