Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Researchers found when vitamin D was given at 2000IU per day a marker of infection fighting nearly tripled. 

Menopause is a natural part of aging that occurs in women between the ages of 45 and 55. It is characterized by a drop in estrogen levels that produces symptoms such as hot flashes, fatigue and weight gain (1). Many women will spend one-third of their lifetime in menopause (2), during which significant health issues can arise that include depression, osteoporosis and an increased risk of heart disease (3). The annual costs of treating these health issues have been described as “staggering”: $10 billion for cardiovascular disease, $13.8 billion for osteoporosis, and $6 billion for breast cancer (4).

Another health problem, however, can also affect women during menopause and that is urinary tract infections. While no exact costs are available, urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women “have a detrimental effect on physical, social, and mental well-being” (5). Now a new study (6) has suggested that vitamin D may help maintain bladder health in postmenopausal women.

In the study, 8 postmenopausal women were given 2,000 IU/day of vitamin D for 12 weeks. Bladder tissue samples were obtained before and after supplementation to assess any effect of vitamin D on immune system activity in the bladder via an antimicrobial protein called cathelicidin (7).

The researchers found that vitamin D blood levels in the postmenopausal women increased by 34% in only 6 weeks (68.5 to 104.5 nanomoles/Liter – recommended vitamin D blood level is 75 nmol/L) and another 11% by 12 weeks (104.5 to 117 nmol/L). While vitamin D supplementation did not affect cathelicidin levels in healthy bladder tissue, cathelicidin levels increased significantly (nearly tripling) once researchers induced a bladder infection in the cells with the bacterium E. Coli, thereby increasing immune system strength of the bladder tissue when a potential bladder infection arose.

For the researchers, “Here we show that vitamin D supplementation of healthy postmenopausal women prepares the bladder tissue to fight E. coli infection by increased production of cathelicidin upon bacterial contact“ and that “vitamin D may be a potential complement in the prevention of urinary tract infections.” Although this study is small and without a control group, the results warrant further research.

Source: Hertting, Olof, et al. “Vitamin D induction of the human antimicrobial Peptide cathelicidin in the urinary bladder.” PLoS One 5.12 (2010): e15580.

© 2010 Hertting et al. Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Click here to read the full text study.

Posted January 26, 2011.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA.

References:

  1. “Menopause” posted on Medline Plus.
  2. Porter M, Penney GC, Russell D, Russell E, Templeton A. A population based survey of women’s experience of the menopause. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 1996;103:1025-8
  3. Cutson TM. Managing Menopause. Am Fam Physician 2000;61:1391-40,1405-6
  4.  “Menopause” – posted on Indiana Department of Health.
  5. Christofi N. An evidence-based approach to lifestyle interventions in urogynaecology. Menopause Int 2007; 13(4): 154-158
  6. Hertting O. Vitamin D Induction of the Human Antimicrobial Peptide Cathelicidin in the Urinary Bladder. PLoS ONE 2010; 5(12): e15580.
  7.  Gombart AF. Human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (CAMP) gene is a direct target of the vitamin D receptor and is strongly up-regulated in myeloid cells by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. FASEB J 2005 Jul;19(9):1067-77