title: Vitamin D and autoimmunity: is vitamin D status an environmental factor affecting autoimmune disease prevalence?
abstract: The environment in which the encounter of antigen with the immune system occurs determines whether tolerance, infectious immunity, or autoimmunity results. Geographical areas with low supplies of vitamin D (for example Scandinavia) correlate with regions with high incidences of multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and diabetes. The active form of vitamin D has been shown to suppress the development of autoimmunity in experimental animal models. Furthermore, vitamin D deficiency increases the severity of at least experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (mouse multiple sclerosis). Targets for vitamin D in the immune system have been identified, and the mechanisms of vitamin D-mediated immunoregulation are beginning to be understood. This review discusses the possibility that vitamin D status is an environmental factor, which by shaping the immune system affects the prevalence rate for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and juvenile diabetes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA. mxc69@psu.edu
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Cantorna
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015551:Autoimmunity; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000276:immunology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000276:immunology; D015995:Prevalence; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D