In a recent study published in Diabetes Research & Clinical Practice, when patients with prediabetes and hypovitaminosis D, were provided high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation, insulin sensitivity improved and diabetes progression rate was reduced. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial adults with pre-diabetes and vitamin D deficiency were randomly assigned to either vitamin D3 or placebo. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2-h oral glucose tolerance test plasma glucose (OGTT PG), Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), and the rate of progression of glucose tolerance was compared.

A total of 162 patients were randomized, from which 83 finished the 6-month follow-up (44 in intervention group and 39 in control group). In 6 months, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were significantly higher in the intervention group (36ng/ml vs 16ng/ml, P value<0.001). There was no significant difference between FPG or 2H-OGTT PG in two groups. HOMA-IR score was significantly lower in the vitamin D group (2.6 vs. 3.1; P value=0.04). The rate of progression toward diabetes was significantly lower in the intervention group (28% vs. 3%; P value=0.002).

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