title: Vitamin D supplementation, moderate sun exposure, and control of immune diseases.
abstract: There is considerable debate about the benefits of vitamin D supplementation for multiple sclerosis, allergic asthma, and type 1 diabetes. This has been driven mainly by observational studies linking vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency with increased prevalence of autoimmune and other diseases driven by immune processes. Randomized controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation to treat these (and other) diseases have been disappointing. This review examines the evidence that circulating vitamin D levels provide a surrogate measure of sun exposure and that it is the other molecules and pathways induced by sun exposure, rather than vitamin D-driven processes, that explain many of the benefits often attributed to vitamin D.
authors: Department of Inflammation, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6008, Australia. prueh@ichr.uwa.edu.au
authors: Prue H
authors: PH
authors: Hart
mesh_terms: D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006801:Humans; D013472:Sunlight; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D