Raynaud’s phenomenon and vitamin D

To our knowledge, there have not been studies to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP). To test in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind, and prospective way whether 8 weeks of 600,000 IU monthly supplementation of oral vitamin D3 would contribute to improvements in RP, 53 patients describing RP were recruited during winter 2010–2011. 42 patients were deficient in vitamin D dosage and randomly assigned into either the vitamin D group or placebo group. Every 4 weeks (for a total of 3 doses), patients received their treatment and answered on a visual analogue scale (VAS) basis about their RP. In the vitamin D group, baseline average blood vitamin D level was 20.9 ng/mL. VAS 0, VAS 1, and VAS 2 were 58.33, 48.09, and 36.2, respectively. At the end of the study, the average blood vitamin D level was 32.9 ng/mL. In the placebo group, baseline average blood vitamin D level was 21.8 ng/mL. VAS 0, VAS 1, and VAS 2 were 58.33, 51.19, and 64.28, respectively. At the end of the study, the average blood vitamin D level was 23.2 ng/mL. Following our observations, we concluded to an objective augmentation of vitamin D blood level and RP self-judgment improvement after 8 weeks of monthly supplementation of vitamin D3. One can ask whether vitamin D has as a vasodilator effect in patients with RP who are deficient in vitamin D. Other studies and researches are needed to answer these questions.