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Directing immune development to curb sky-rocketing disease

Once upon a time it was infectious diseases like polio, measles or tuberculosis that most worried parents. With these threats now largely under control, parents face a new challenge – sky-rocketing rates of non-infectious diseases such as asthma, allergies and autism.

Research

Comparing the effects of sun exposure and vitamin D supplementation on vitamin D insufficiency, and immune and cardio-metabolic function

Adults living in the sunny Australian climate are at high risk of skin cancer, but vitamin D deficiency (defined here as a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D...

Research

Vitamin D in fetal development: Findings from a birth cohort study

Birth cohort studies provide an invaluable resource for studies of the influence of the fetal environment on health in later life.

Research

Vitamin D C3-epimer levels are proportionally higher with oral vitamin D supplementation compared to ultraviolet irradiation of skin in mice but not humans

The proportion of 25(OH)D3 that undergoes epimerization is greater with oral vitamin D3 supplementation than exposure to UVR in mice, but not in humans

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Ultraviolet radiation suppresses obesity and symptoms of metabolic syndrome independently of vitamin D

UVR or sunlight exposure may be an effective means of suppressing the development of obesity and MetS, through mechanisms that are independent of vitamin D

Research

Narrowband UVB phototherapy reduces TNF production by B-cell subsets stimulated via TLR7 from individuals with early multiple sclerosis

At the end of a 60-day course of narrowband UVB phototherapy, administered to individuals with early multiple sclerosis, there were changes in the relative proportions of circulating B-cell subsets. This study investigated phototherapy-associated changes to cytokine responses of B cells when exposed to a TLR7 ligand.

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Direct infant UV light exposure is associated with eczema and immune development

This study is the first to demonstrate an association between greater direct UV light exposures in early infancy with lower incidence of eczema

Research

Sun-immune connection

Exposure to ultraviolet radiation damages skin cell DNA but skin cancers develop because ultraviolet radiation also affects the immune system

Research

Epstein–Barr virus infection, B-cell dysfunction and other risk factors converge in gut-associated lymphoid tissue to drive the immunopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis: a hypothesis

Multiple sclerosis is associated with Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection, B-cell dysfunction, gut dysbiosis, and environmental and genetic risk factors, including female sex.

Research

Expression of CYP24A1 and other multiple sclerosis risk genes in peripheral blood indicates response to vitamin D in homeostatic and inflammatory conditions

Although genetic and epidemiological evidence indicates vitamin D insufficiency contributes to multiple sclerosis (MS), and serum levels of vitamin D increase on treatment with cholecalciferol, recent metanalyses indicate that this vitamin D form does not ameliorate disease. Genetic variation in genes regulating vitamin D, and regulated by vitamin D, affect MS risk.