Vitamin D - reliable dietary supplements??

[Guest guest]

*Vitamin D supplements - reliable???*

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients taking over-the-counter vitamin D aren't

getting what they're paying for, or what their neurologists recommend,

according to a study presented here.

The mean vitamin D content from 10 OTC brands was only 33% of what the label

claimed, with the actual content ranging from less than 1% to 82% of the

advertised level. The study was presented at the meeting of the Joint

Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers and America's Committee on

Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis.

Vitamin D supplements are increasingly being recommended to MS patients,

both for osteoporosis, which is common in the disease, and for presumed

immunomodulatory actions as well, according to senior author

Calabresi, MD, of the Department of Neurology at s Hopkins University in

Baltimore. " As the role of vitamin D in immune regulation in MS gains

increasing focus, oral supplementation is growing, " he said.

The level of recommended supplementation depends on the patient's individual

deficiency, although 4000 IU daily is a common dose.

However, given the wide variety of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) supplements

available and " limited regulation within the nutritional supplement

industry, the true vitamin D3 content of over-the-counter supplements is a

concern, " Calabresi said.

To test levels in commonly purchased supplements, his group collected 10

bottles of OTC supplements from local and on-line retail pharmacies. Vitamin

D3 was extracted by standard techniques and samples were analyzed by liquid

chromatography and mass spectrometry.

The labeled doses ranged from 400 IU to 10,000 IU, but the mean actual dose

was only 33.5% of the labeled dose, with a range from 0.24% to 81.7%.

Lower-dose products tended to be closer to their labeled dose than

higher-dose products, with the three 400-IU products averaging 51.5%, the

two 1000-IU products averaging 34%, and the three 10,000-IU products

averaging 29.9%.

On the other hand, the single worst sample -- the one with only 0.24% of

what it claimed -- was a 400-IU sample.

Neither national in-store retail brands nor online brands were more true to

their labels.

The discrepancy between the advertised and actual vitamin D content " may

contribute to the difficulty for some patients to reach adequate serum

vitamin D levels despite supplementation, " Calabresi said.

" This reflects the need for increased regulation of the vitamin industry. "

Because their lab is not certified to do drug testing, Calabresi declined to

name the products tested in this study. Patients taking vitamin D

supplements should have serum measurements made after starting therapy to

determine whether they are reaching target levels, he said.

*Primary source: *Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers

Source reference:

Eckstein C, et al " Vitamin D3 content in commercially available oral

supplements " *CMSC-ACTRIMS* 2010; P. 33-34.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/CMSC-ACTRIMS/20522

*From ConsumrLab*

*Understanding the Preliminary Report from s Hopkins on Vitamin D in

Supplements —* (6/14/2010): We recently received inquiries from members

asking for our perspective on a recent news

article<http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/CMSC-ACTRIMS/20522>

describing

research by a team at s Hopkins University on vitamin D supplements, as

presented at a Multiple Sclerosis conference. The results showed the mean

actual dose in 10 supplements was only 33.5% of the labeled dose, with a

range from 0.24% to 81.7%.

We contacted the research team to learn more about the findings. We spoke

with Dr. Norman Haughey at s Hopkins, who oversaw the testing. It

appears that the report was preliminary: The team has not yet performed

extraction efficiency testing, i.e., making sure that they got all of the

vitamin D out of the tested samples. Poor extraction recovery will yield low

results and is a well-known problem with vitamin D in supplements and is a

function of the matrix of the supplement, i.e., the other components of the

product. As we noted in our own report (below), we tested four products in

which vitamin D amounts could not be accurately measured for the same

reason.

The Hopkins team hopes to have additional information in a few months. We

look forward to hearing more about their research and to providing another

update to our members at such time.

--

Ortiz, MS, RD

" I plan on living forever - so far so good "

" Cause of obesity, heart disease and cancer: Look at the end of your fork "

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