Vitamin D and Cartilage: Does Vitamin D Influence Cartilage Integrity?

Osteoarthritis, a painful irreversible disabling joint disease, and one that predominantly affects articular cartilage, is rapidly increasing in prevalence among older populations. This work aimed to examine: 1) whether vitamin D, a powerful steroidal hormone involved in many physiological processes is an important determinant of osteoarthritis pathology, and 2) whether vitamin D supplementation can potentially restore articular cartilage integrity in damaged joints. To this end, a comprehensive overview of relevant English language research reports published over the last 30 years was undertaken. Regardless of study design, these data revealed no clear conclusion with respect to either study question, a wide array of study substrates, approaches, and outcome measures, plus equivocal findings even when similar research designs were applied, along with similar samples. In light of the limited consensus reached when examining the present data base, plus the presence of substantive methodological concerns within this literature, it is concluded more research to carefully delineate the possible protective, reparative or aversive role of vitamin D in mediating articular cartilage status in more representative samples is warranted, and will potentially prove of immense clinical value.