title: Therapeutic use of vitamin D and its analogues in autoimmunity.
abstract: In recent years, there has been great interest in the role of vitamin D in a number of diverse human diseases including autoimmunity, allergy, infection, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, transplantation and cancer. Vitamin D is best known for its role in calcium metabolism; however it also has potent immunomodulatory effects. Epidemiological studies suggest that vitamin D deficiency may be a significant risk factor for many diseases. Furthermore, there is accumulating evidence from experimental studies that vitamin D has anti-inflammatory effects. Recent studies have indicated that a surprisingly high proportion of people are vitamin D deficient, suggesting that vitamin D supplementation may be of benefit to human health. This review will focus on the role of vitamin D in autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. We will review the epidemiological and experimental evidence for the protective effects of vitamin D in autoimmunity, as well as the preliminary vitamin D intervention studies and the most recent patented vitamin D analogues.
authors: School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College, and St. Jame's Hospital, Dublin 2, Ireland. jean.fletcher@tcd.ie
authors: Jean M
authors: JM
authors: Fletcher
authors: Sharee A
authors: SA
authors: Basdeo
authors: Aideen C
authors: AC
authors: Allen
authors: Padraic J
authors: PJ
authors: Dunne
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010330:Patents as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D014815:Vitamins / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins; D014807:Vitamin D