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Eldecalcitol, synthetic vitamin D, boosts muscle strength
Eldecalcitol, a synthesised version of vitamin D that is marketed in Japan as a registered medicine, enhances muscle strength at a daily dose of less than a microgram. Japanese scientists discovered this when they did an experiment with a couple of dozen elderly people.
Eldecalcitol
In older scientific literature eldecalcitol is also referred to as ED-71. The first references to the substance in the Japanese scientific literature appeared in the 1980s. Biochemists at Chugai Pharmaceutical developed eldecalcitol initially as a drug against cancer and it was authorised in Japan as an anti-osteoporosis drug in 2011. Meta-studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of eldecalcitol against osteoporosis. [Drug Des Devel Ther. 2016 Jan 28;10:509-17.]
In the early 1980s scientists discovered from in-vitro studies the protective effect of calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D in our bodies, against cancer - but they also discovered that to be effective required concentrations that had side effects in humans. [Steroids. 2001 Mar-May;66(3-5):137-46.] The synthetic vitamin D analogue eldecalcitol became active at noticeably lower concentrations.
Study
In 2016 Japanese researchers at Akita University published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism the results of a study in which 18 women had taken 0.75 microgram eldecalcitol every day for six months. The participants had an average age of 74 and suffered from osteoporosis. They also took alendronate, a drug used to treat osteoporosis. A control group of 17 women took alendronate only.
The researchers measured the participants' muscular strength just before and just after the supplementation period.
Results
The supplement made the participants stronger.
Different study
In 2014 the researchers also published the results of a study on the effect of eldecalcitol supplementation on the muscles of elderly people with osteoporosis. This study was almost identical to the 2016 study, but was carried out on a larger number of participants. [Ther Clin Risk Manag. 2014 Jan 16;10:51-9.]
During the 6 months that the study lasted, the speed with which the participants in the control group were able to stand up from sitting in a chair remained constant, while the speed of the participants in the supplementation group [ED] increased slightly.
Conclusion
"This study has several limitations," the researchers wrote in the concluding paragraphs of the 2016 article. "First, although this randomized controlled study strictly evaluated the effects of eldecalcitol on balance and muscle strength, it included only a small number of patients. It will be necessary to increase the number of patients and conduct a long-term investigation of the fall prevention effects of eldecalcitol."
"Second, we did not evaluate vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency by measuring serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels."
Source:
J Bone Miner Metab (2016) 34:547-54.
More:
Daily dose of vitamin D keeps over 50s' muscles in shape 19.12.2015
More vitamin D, more muscle mass 07.04.2015
Animal study: 1000 IU vitamin D3 inhibits muscle breakdown in athletes 29.11.2013
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