Vitamin D provided no clinical improvement in patients with restless legs syndrome, according to findings presented at CHEST 2017, reports Healio.

“The role of vitamin D in the body functions is well-known, including bone health, modulation of cell growth, neuromuscular and immune function,” Siraj Omar Wali, MBBS, FRCPC, FCCP, FACP, of the Sleep Medicine and Research Center at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Saudi Arabia, told Healio Family Medicine. “In addition, it has been found that vitamin D administration affects the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway, which seems to play an important role in the pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome… However, its role in restless legs syndrome has not been effectively investigated.”

For their randomized clinical trial, Wali and colleagues assigned 35 patients diagnosed with restless legs syndrome, as defined by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group rating scale, to receive 50,000 IU of vitamin D orally (n = 17) or placebo (n = 18) each week for 12 weeks. Researchers obtained participants’ bone profile, serum vitamin D levels and a clinical assessment of the patients’ symptoms severity using the same restless legs syndrome rating scale at baseline and every 4 weeks for 12 weeks.