Effect of vitamin D on insulin sensitivity in elderly patients with impaired fasting glucose.

AIM: Recent data has shown that vitamin D increases insulin sensitivity; however, there is little evidence about the effects of this treatment on elderly people with impaired fasting glucose. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of vitamin D treatment on insulin sensitivity and metabolic parameters in elderly people with impaired fasting glucose. METHODS: A total of 28 elderly patients were enrolled into the vitamin D treatment group. The control group included 23 age-, sex- and body mass index-matched elderly participants. The vitamin D treatment group was treated with vitamin D(3) according to serum concentrations of 25(OH)D. RESULTS: With supplementation, 96.0% of patients achieved a mean serum 25(OH)D concentration of 123.2 ± 59.9 nmol/L. After 4.7 ± 2.5 months of treatment, there was a significant decrease in homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, insulin and glucose concentrations in the vitamin D treatment group (P = 0.007, P = 0.007, P = 0.037, respectively). Vitamin D treatment significantly increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.037), but did not cause statistically significant differences in other lipid parameters. CONCLUSION: We found that vitamin D treatment might modify insulin sensitivity in the elderly with impaired fasting glucose.

Potential benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on atherosclerosis and glycaemic control in patients with diabetic foot.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on glycaemic control, atherosclerosis, inflammatory markers, and other clinical and laboratory parameters in patients undergoing systemic HBOT for diabetic foot ulcerations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-eight patients with Wagner grade 2-4 diabetic foot ulcerations were included. All patients were given 100% oxygen at 2.4 absolute atmosphere (ATA) for about 105 minutes, five times a week for a total of 30 sessions. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), homeostasis model measurement-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), uric acid, mean platelet volume (MPV), complete blood count, and lipid profile were tested. RESULTS: Upon completion of treatment, a statistically significant improvement was observed in the mean values of all assessed parameters. CONCLUSIONS: HBOT was shown to have beneficial effects on atherosclerosis and glycaemic control in diabetic patients. Further large-scale randomized studies are needed to study the systemic effects of HBOT.