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Vitamin D and Immune Function

2013; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; Volume: 5; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3390/nu5072502

2072-6643

Barbara Prietl, Gerlies Treiber, Thomas R. Pieber, Karin Amrein,

Menstrual Health and Disorders

Vitamin D metabolizing enzymes and vitamin D receptors are present in many cell types including various immune cells such as antigen-presenting-cells, T cells, B cells and monocytes. In vitro data show that, in addition to modulating innate immune cells, vitamin D also promotes a more tolerogenic immunological status. In vivo data from animals and from human vitamin D supplementation studies have shown beneficial effects of vitamin D on immune function, in particular in the context of autoimmunity. In this review, currently available data are summarized to give an overview of the effects of vitamin D on the immune system in general and on the regulation of inflammatory responses, as well as regulatory mechanisms connected to autoimmune diseases particularly in type 1 diabetes mellitus.