Introduction to Vitamin D Symposium, March 14, 2008

Abstract

A large body of work in diverse clinical and scientific areas has accumulated that supports a role for vitamin D in multiple organ systems and physiologic and molecular processes. The vitamin D receptor is distributed ubiquitously, and by binding with its receptor, vitamin D initiates a series of events that can affect cellular proliferation and differentiation, inflammation, the immune system, and the endocrine system, including the renin-angiotensin system, insulin resistance, and lipid metabolism. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 3: 1534, 2008. doi: 10.2215 I n the past three decades, there has been great interest in a role of vitamin D in multiple organ systems, where it enables numerous physiologic processes at the cellular and molecular levels; however, during this same period, a large body of work in diverse clinical and scientific areas has accumulated indicating that vitamin D also affects nonosseous organ systems and other physiologic and molecular processes. We now know that the vitamin D receptor, through which vitamin D exerts its effects, may be found ubiquitously and by binding with its receptor vitamin D initiates a series of events that can affect cellular proliferation and differentiation, inflammation, the immune system, and the endocrine system, including the renin-angiotensin system, insulin resistance, and lipid metabolism. Studies of vitamin D-deficient individuals and studies of animals that were made vitamin D deficient showed an association with or the development of increased left ventricular mass index, increased cardiac fibrosis, coronary artery calcification, and decreased inotropy. Such studies also revealed increased renin-angiotensin activity; vascular endothelial dysfunction; fibrosis; vascular smooth muscle cell hypertrophy; and the development of hypertension, insulin resistance, interstitial renal fibrosis, podocyte damage, and glomerulosclerosis.Last, there is an association with cancer. Thus, it seems that vitamin D may be a determining factor in the development of some of society's major health hazards, namely coronary heart disease, heart failure, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and cancer. Moreover, because it is now known that vitamin D deficiency is more widespread in the general population than previously thought, these nonclassical effects of vitamin D should be more intensively investigated, and vitamin D status should be included among the important risk factors for disease.To this end, this symposium on vitamin D presented the current state of the art with regard to the role of vitamin D in neoplastic, cardiovascular, and kidney diseases and emphasized the central place that vitamin D status may occupy in the pantheon of disease risk factors.

Genetic polymorphisms in vitamin D receptor, vitamin D-binding protein, Toll-like receptor 2, nitric oxide synthase 2, and interferon-γ genes and its association with susceptibility to tuberculosis

“…VDR are distributed ubiquitously, and by binding with its receptor, vitamin D initiates a series of events that can affect cellular proliferation and differentiation, inflammation, the immune and endocrine systems, insulin resistance, and lipid metabolism (5). Vitamin D metabolites are important immunomodulatory hormones, which activate monocytes and suppress lymphocyte proliferation, immunoglobulin production, and cytokine synthesis.…”

From Epidemiology to Epigenetics: Evidence for the Importance of Nutrition to Optimal Health Development Across the Life Course

“…The recognition of these new pathways has led to newly ascribed paracrine functions of vitamin D that include multiple organ systems such as the cardiovascular (Heaney 2008;Verstuyf et al 2010), renal, and immune systems. These systems are believed to activate vitamin D locally, via vitamin D receptors, to regulate cell and tissue growth and differentiation (Falkenstein et al 2000), as well as to serve as precursors of enzyme cofactors, all integral to the intact functioning of numerous metabolic processes (Heaney 2008;Rostand and Warnock 2008). The widespread presence of vitamin D receptors supports the extensive range of physiological functions of 1,25 vitamin D (Dusso and Brown 1998).…”

Rs 10735810 of Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) Gene : Association with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Children

“…VDR, a nuclear hormone receptor, is a member of the steroid receptor family present on monocytes and activated T and B lymphocytes (Provvedini et al, 1983) involved in a wide range of biological functions, including mediation of vitamin D3 interactions with the immune system (Rostand et al, 2008). Vitamin D is a critical immunoregulatory factor in inhibiting engulfed Mycobacterium from surviving in macrophage as its metabolism is closely related to macrophage activation (Manolagas et al, 1994).…”