Low levels of vitamin D may have a causal role in the development of hypertension, according to a recent study.

Researchers suggest that vitamin D supplementation could be effective in combating some cases of hypertension.

"In view of the costs and side effects associated with antihypertensive drugs, the potential to prevent or reduce blood pressure and therefore the risk of hypertension with vitamin D is very attractive," Professor Elina Hyppönen, who led the study, said in a statement.

For the study, researchers measured the causal effect between vitamin D status and blood pressure and hypertension risk using two genetic variants that affect "circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations," which are generally used to determine a person's vitamin D status.

The researchers found that for each 10 percent increase in 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations there was a drop in diastolic blood pressure and systolic blood pressure, and an 8.1 percent decrease in the odds of developing hypertension.

"[This method] helps to determine cause and effect because by using genetic data we can better avoid confounding, reverse causation, and bias," Hypponen said. "However, because we cannot exclude the possibility that our findings were caused by chance, they need to be replicated in an independent, similarly powered study. Further studies using randomized controlled trials are also needed to confirm causality and the potential clinical benefits of vitamin D supplementation."

Dr. Shoaib Afzal and Dr. Børge Nordestgaard from Copenhagen University Hospital and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark said the findings are an important step towards delineation of the role of low vitamin D concentrations in the pathogenesis of hypertension, much remains unknown.

Randomized intervention trials will be needed to determine whether vitamin D supplementation can be used to prevent or treat hypertension before such a strategy can be used clinically.

The findings were recently published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.