Optimal vitamin D supplement dosage for improving insulin resistance in children and adolescents with overweight/obesity: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

We conducted a network meta-analysis which aims to evaluate the comparative efficacy of different supplementation dosages of vitamin D on cardiometabolic and bone-metabolic indicators as well as insulin resistance in children and adolescents with overweight/obesity.

Eligible studies published before December 10, 2022 were retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Mean difference and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to express pooled estimates. Network meta-analysis of multiple doses, including low (< 1000 IU/day, LDS), medium (1000–2000 IU/day, MDS), high (2000–4000 IU/day, HDS), and extremely high (> 4000 IU/day, EHDS) dosage strategy, was conducted using STATA/MP 14.0.

Our network meta-analysis of 15 RCTs suggested that, compared with placebo and LDS, EHDS was increased 25-(OH)-D, with a pooled MD of 8.65 (95% CI 4.72–12.58) and 7.66 (95% CI 0.91–14.41), respectively. Meanwhile, EHDS also decreased ho meostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (MD: − 0.74; 95% CI: − 1.45 to − 0.04) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (MD: − 18.99; 95% CI − 21.60 to − 16.38), and EHDS was also better than LDS (MD: − 18.47; 95% CI − 20.66 to − 16.28) and MDS (MD: − 19.69; 95% CI − 22.17 to − 17.21) in decreasing CRP. Ranking probability suggested that EHDS ranked best for increasing 25-(OH)-D, and decreasing HOMA-IR and CRP, with a probability of 86.1%, 83.1%, and 76.6%, respectively.

The results of our network meta-analysis suggest that EHDS may be the best strategy for vitamin D supplementation to reduce inflammatory responses as well as improve insulin resistance in children and adolescents with overweight/obesity.

CRD42023387775.