ArticleJournal of nutritional science2018
No improvement in depressive symptoms by vitamin D supplementation: results from a randomised controlled trial.
Article in Journal of nutritional science, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of vitamin D supplementation on the incidence and prognosis of depression: An updated meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Does Vitamin D3 Supplementation Improve Depression Scores among Rural Adolescents? A Randomized Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2024Trial
- Vitamin D supplementation improves anxiety but not depression symptoms in patients with vitamin D deficiency.Brain and behavior · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of depression and poor physical function in older persons: the D-Vitaal study, a randomized clinical trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2019Trial
- The Association Between Serum Vitamin D and Lipid Levels in Patients With Depression: A Cross-Sectional Study.Alpha psychiatry · 2026Article
- The Role of Vitamin D in the Management of Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Role of Water-Soluble Vitamins and Vitamin D in Prevention and Treatment of Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder in Adults.Nutrients · 2024Review
- The Non-conventional Effects of Hypovitaminosis D: A Pandemic Even in Sunlight-Rich Countries.Cureus · 2024Review
- Vitamin D Status in Bipolar Disorder.Nutrients · 2023Article
- The association between vitamin D serum levels, supplementation, and suicide attempts and intentional self-harm.PloS one · 2023Article
- Vitamin D Alleviates Anxiety and Depression in Elderly People with Prediabetes: A Randomized Controlled Study.Metabolites · 2022Article
- No improvement of sleep from vitamin D supplementation: insights from a randomized controlled trial.Sleep medicine: X · 2021Article
- Association between Vitamin D Supplementation and Mental Health in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
- Lower serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol is associated with depressive symptoms in older adults in Southern Brazil.Nutrition journal · 2020Article
- Review
- Vitamin D and Depression: A Critical Appraisal of the Evidence and Future Directions.Indian journal of psychological medicineReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In observational studies, vitamin D deficiency is associated with depressive symptoms. However, randomised controlled trials (RCT) with vitamin D supplementation have not been conclusive. In the present study 206 subjects were randomised to vitamin D (100 000 IU (2500 µg) as a bolus dose followed by 20 000 IU (500 µg) per week) and 202 to placebo. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) was filled in at baseline and after 4 months at the end of the study. At baseline the mean age was 51·4 and 52·5 years and mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) 32·5 and 35·1 nmol/l in the vitamin D and placebo groups, respectively. Among the 408 subjects, 193 had a BDI-II score >4, and forty-five had a score >13. Twenty-three subjects were using anti-depressant or mood-stabilising drugs. At the end of the study, there were no significant differences in Δ BDI-II score (score at the end of the study minus score at baseline), regardless of analysing all subjects, subjects with or without psycopharmaca, or if performing subgroup analyses based on baseline and final serum 25(OH)D levels combined with categories of baseline BDI-II scores >4 or >13. In conclusion, we have not been able to demonstrate any significant effect of vitamin D supplementation on depressive symptoms. However, few of our subjects were clinically depressed. Future RCT should include subjects with more severe vitamin D deficiency as well as more depressed subjects than in our study. In such a setting vitamin D may probably be more relevant as an augmenter of standard antidepressant medication/treatment.
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Registered trials
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.