Vitamin D Is Glucoprotective in Aging Males but Not Females

Authors

Olivia Z B Ginnard
Maria Morales
Ji Youn Youn
Yong Xu
Stephanie R Sisley

Language

English

Publication Date

11-14-2025

Journal

The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.jsbmb.2025.106898

PMID

41242400

Abstract

Vitamin D supplementation is linked to many beneficial health outcomes in the geriatric population, such as decreased mortality, epigenetic aging, and fracture risk. Conversely, type 2 diabetes is strongly linked to vitamin D deficiency in older adults. However, there is a discrepancy between clinical trials in adults on the efficacy of vitamin D treatment in prediabetes and diabetes. In addition, human data indicates there may be sexual dimorphism in the effect of vitamin D deficiency on dysglycemia that is more pronounced in men. These incongruities may be due to our limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms of vitamin D in glucose homeostasis among its vast target tissues across the body. Here we describe the physiological effects of vitamin D supplementation in an aged, non-obese mouse model on glucose homeostasis and associated tissue-specific gene regulation. Specifically, we found that 1) increased dietary vitamin D intake can improve glucose regulation in lean, aged male mice, and 2) these male mice also had decreased Glut4 and Insr expression in a diet low in vitamin D in various tissues indicating that dietary vitamin D may be a sex-specific key mediator in regulating glucose tolerance and protecting against insulin resistance.

Keywords

Aging, Glucose regulation, Vitamin D

Published Open-Access

yes

Recommended Citation

Ginnard, Olivia Z B; Morales, Maria; Youn, Ji Youn; et al., "Vitamin D Is Glucoprotective in Aging Males but Not Females" (2025). Faculty and Staff Publications. 4933.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/4933