ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A new Washington University School of Medicine study finds a link between Vitamin D and clogged arteries in diabetics.

The study found when Vitamin D levels in diabetics are low, a dangerous class of white blood cells is more likely to adhere to the walls of blood vessels, leading to potential heart disease.

“We took into account their blood pressure, we took into account their cholesterol, we took into account weight, race, everything,” lead researcher Dr. Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi said. “And only Vitamin D was correlated to the adherence.”

He says sometime in the next several months, they hope to determine whether Vitamin D treatment in diabetics can reverse some of these risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease.

Researcher Amy Riek says in the future, they hope to generate medications, potentially even Vitamin D itself, that help prevent the deposit of cholesterol in the blood vessels.