Background: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with hypertension; however, it is unclear whether vitamin D influences therapeutic blood pressure reduction. Renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) reduces blood pressure in resistant hypertension. We hypothesized that vitamin D might influence blood pressure response to RDN.
Methods: Vitamin D was measured in 101 patients with resistant hypertension undergoing RDN. The associations between vitamin D status and systolic blood pressure (SBP) reduction 6 months after RDN were analyzed.
Results: Mean office SBP at baseline was 171.5 ± 2 mmHg. After RDN, mean office SBP was reduced by 28.4 ± 2.3 mmHg (p = 0.007). 85 patients (84.2 %) had SBP reductions >10 mmHg (responders). Vitamin D concentrations were lower in non-responders as compared to responders (9.9 ± 4.5 vs. 13.7 ± 7.4 ng/ml, p = 0.008). Non-responders (n = 16, 15.8 %), more often had a vitamin D concentration below the median as compared to responders (81 vs. 46 %, p = 0.013). The percentage of patients with normal vitamin D concentrations increased with increasing tertiles of SBP reduction (p for trend = 0.020). In patients with vitamin D concentrations below the median, SBP reduction was lower as compared to patients with a vitamin D concentration above the median (23.5 ± 3.2 vs. 33.7 ± 3.2 mmHg, p = 0.026). Baseline vitamin D concentrations correlated with SBP reduction (r = 0.202, p = 0.043).
Conclusions: In patients with resistant hypertension, low vitamin D concentrations were associated with a decreased SBP response and a higher rate of non-response.