Can Vitamin D be a potential treatment for Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Diabetes has become the next most widespread epidemic after cancer and extensive research is being carried out to develop drugs for its therapeutics. Recent studies have found that deficiency of Vitamin D results in reduction in insulin secretion and thus in hyperglycemia. Both insulin secretion and sensitivity depends upon intracellular calcium concentration also and Vitamin D is one of the hormone which has been found to regulate calcium flux within the cells. In both observational and case-control studies, an inverse relationship has been reported with level of 25(OH) Vit D and degree of glycemic control. Therefore, in the present review, an attempt is being made to present scientific evidence of linkage of Type 2 diabetes with Vitamin D levels in order to explore the possibility of Vit D as an add-on therapy to the existing treatment to strive near normo-glycemia. (C) 2010 Diabetes India. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.