title: Vitamin D and pancreas: The role of sunshine vitamin in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus and pancreatic cancer.
abstract: Increasing evidence suggests that vitamin D exerts multiple effects beyond bone and calcium metabolism. Vitamin D seems to play a role in pancreatic disease, including type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus as well as pancreatic cancer. Vitamin D's immune-modulatory action suggests that it could help prevent type 1 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, vitamin D may influence β-cell function, insulin sensitivity, and systematic inflammation-all characteristic pathways of that disease. Data from observational studies correlated vitamin D deficiency with risk of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Prospective and ecological studies of pancreatic cancer incidence generally support a beneficial effect of higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration as well as inverse correlations between UVB dose or exposure and incidence and/or mortality rate of pancreatic cancer. This review discusses the literature regarding vitamin D's role in risk of diabetes and pancreatic cancer. The results to date generally satisfy Hill's criteria for causality regarding vitamin D and incidence of these pancreatic diseases. However, large randomized, blinded, prospective studies are required to more fully evaluate the potential therapeutic role of vitamin D in preventing pancreatic diseases.
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Medical Pathology, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2616-3249
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Altieri
authors.affiliation: b Sunlight , Nutrition, and Health Research Center , San Francisco , California , USA.
authors.forename: William B
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1439-3285
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Medical Pathology, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1245-753X
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Della Casa
authors.affiliation: c Endocrinology, Department of Sports Science and Wellness , Parthenope University , Naples , Italy.|d Fertility Techniques SSD , San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi D'Aragona University Hospital , Salerno , Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Orio
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Medical Pathology, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pontecorvi
authors.affiliation: e Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Section of Endocrinology , University "Federico II," Naples , Italy.
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colao
authors.affiliation: f Department of General Surgery and Transplantation Unit , San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi D'Aragona University Hospital, Scuola Medica Salernitana , Salerno , Italy.
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sarno
authors.affiliation: g Ios and Coleman Medicina Futura Medical Center , Naples , Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8809-4931
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Muscogiuri
mesh_terms: D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013472:Sunlight; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency; D014815:Vitamins
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins; D014807:Vitamin D
keywords: Vitamin D; insulin resistance; insulin secretion; insulin sensitivity; pancreatic cancer; type 1 diabetes mellitus; type 2 diabetes mellitus