Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25184368›Full record

ReviewNutrients2014

Does sufficient evidence exist to support a causal association between vitamin D status and cardiovascular disease risk? An assessment using Hill's criteria for causality.

Patricia G Weyland, William B Grant, Jill Howie-Esquivel

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nutrients, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and incident falls in older women.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2019
    Trial
  4. Vitamin DBMC cardiovascular disorders · 2017
    Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Association of serum 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D level with lipid, lipoprotein, and apolipoprotein level.Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives · 2021
    Article
  14. Vitamin D and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Is There a Link?Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019
    Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Patricia G WeylandDepartment of Physiological Nursing, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), #2 Koret Way Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. patricia.weyland@ucsf.edu.
William B GrantSunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center, P.O. Box 641603, San Francisco, CA 94164-1603, USA. wbgrant@infionline.net.
Jill Howie-EsquivelDepartment of Physiological Nursing, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), #2 Koret Way Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. jill.howie-esquivel@nursing.ucsf.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

unlabelledSerum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels have been found to be inversely associated with both prevalent and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors; dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. This review looks for evidence of a causal association between low 25(OH)D levels and increased CVD risk. We evaluated journal articles in light of Hill's criteria for causality in a biological system. The results of our assessment are as follows. Strength of association: many randomized controlled trials (RCTs), prospective and cross-sectional studies found statistically significant inverse associations between 25(OH)D levels and CVD risk factors. Consistency of observed association: most studies found statistically significant inverse associations between 25(OH)D levels and CVD risk factors in various populations, locations and circumstances. Temporality of association: many RCTs and prospective studies found statistically significant inverse associations between 25(OH)D levels and CVD risk factors. Biological gradient (dose-response curve): most studies assessing 25(OH)D levels and CVD risk found an inverse association exhibiting a linear biological gradient. Plausibility of biology: several plausible cellular-level causative mechanisms and biological pathways may lead from a low 25(OH)D level to increased risk for CVD with mediators, such as dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Experimental evidence: some well-designed RCTs found increased CVD risk factors with decreasing 25(OH)D levels. Analogy: the association between serum 25(OH)D levels and CVD risk is analogous to that between 25(OH)D levels and the risk of overall cancer, periodontal disease, multiple sclerosis and breast cancer.

conclusionall relevant Hill criteria for a causal association in a biological system are satisfied to indicate a low 25(OH)D level as a CVD risk factor.

Indexed as

Cardiovascular DiseasesHumansVitamin DVitamin D Deficiency25-hydroxyvitamin DVitamin D

Identifiers

PMID25184368
PMCPMC4179168

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.