Vitamin D and thyroid disease: to D or not to D?

Abstract

The main role of vitamin D is to maintain calcium and phosphorus homeostasis, thus preserving bone health. Recent evidence has demonstrated that vitamin D may also have a role in a variety of nonskeletal disorders such as endocrine diseases and in particular type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, adrenal diseases and polycystic ovary syndrome. Low levels of vitamin D have also been associated with thyroid disease, such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Similarly, patients with new-onset Graves' disease were found to have decreased 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations. Impaired vitamin D signaling has been reported to encourage thyroid tumorigenesis. This review will focus on the role of vitamin D in thyroid diseases, both autoimmune diseases and thyroid cancer, and will summarize the results of vitamin D supplementation studies performed in patients with thyroid disorders. Although observational studies support a beneficial role of vitamin D in the management of thyroid disease, randomized controlled trials are required to provide insight into the efficacy and safety of vitamin D as a therapeutic tool for this dysfunction.

• Authors: G Muscogiuri, G Tirabassi, G Bizzaro, F Orio, S A Paschou, A Vryonidou, G Balercia, Y Shoenfeld, A Colao
• Journal: European journal of clinical nutrition (Eur J Clin Nutr) Vol. 69 Issue 3 Pg. 291-6 (Mar 2015) ISSN: 1476-5640 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 25514898 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Vitamins
• Vitamin D

Topics

• Dietary Supplements
• Graves Disease (blood, drug therapy)
• Hashimoto Disease (blood, drug therapy)
• Humans
• Thyroid Diseases (blood, drug therapy, etiology)
• Thyroid Neoplasms (blood, drug therapy)
• Vitamin D (blood, therapeutic use)
• Vitamin D Deficiency (blood, complications, drug therapy)
• Vitamins (blood, therapeutic use)