Sunshine, fertility and racial disparities

Conway, Karen Smith; Trudeau, Jennifer

doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2018.10.002

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…In previous work, we found a strong protective impact of a pregnant woman's exposure to sunlight on later-in-life asthma in her child (Wernerfelt, Slusky, and Zeckhauser 2017). Others have found that sunlight exposure in utero favorably affects birth weight and gestational age (Trudeau, Conway, and Menclova 2016;Zhang, Chen, Wang, and Zhang 2020), and also favorably affects fertility (Conway and Trudeau 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Sunlight and Protection Against Influenza

Slusky

Zeckhauser

2020

SSRN Journal

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Sunlight and Protection Against Influenza

Slusky

Zeckhauser

2020

SSRN Journal

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“…That I find women with a genetic LP variant have higher serum 25(OH) D compared with their male counterparts points to an additional potential selective advantage, that of giving birth to offspring without abnormal bone growth or low weight, as well as reducing likelihood of costly miscarriage (56) . There are suggestions that vitamin D levels resulting from seasonal patterns of sunshine and skin pigmentation may be a determinant of birth outcomes in differing races (57) . If there was a selective advantage for this allele in Northern Europe at the time of animal domestication through acquiring nutrients from milk, this did not extend to selective advantage of acquiring vitB 12 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Eurasian lactase persistence variant LCT-13910 C/T is associated with vitamin D levels in individuals living at high latitude, more so than exposure to sunlight

Moghaddam

2020

J Nutr Sci

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Rapid selection of a genetic variant that confers continuous life-long lactase production in Europeans (LCT-13910 C/T) has been attributed to the advantages of acquiring nutrients from consuming milk without the disadvantages of lactose malabsorption. Individuals with this genetic lactase persistence (LP) variant generally consume more milk and have been shown to have higher levels of serum vitamin D. Vitamin D is the principal regulator of Ca absorption and its synthesis in skin is dependent on UVB exposure. The primary aim of the present study was to compare serum vitamin D concentrations with LP variant and to control for UVB exposure. Data from over 100 000 individuals living in Norway, a country with low UVB exposure, was retrospectively retrieved for comparison of genetic LP variant, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration and the time of year when serum samples were taken. For comparison, a similar analysis was performed with a natural dairy micronutrient, namely vitamin B12. It was found that individuals with the genetic LP variant had considerably higher levels of serum 25(OH)D (P < 2 × 10−16, Cohen's d = 0·73) but lower levels of vitamin B12 (P < 2 × 10−16, Cohen's d = 0·11), compared with genetic lactase non-persistent individuals, even when controlled for seasonality, age and sex. The difference in serum 25(OH)D levels did not diminish in summer months, showing the role of vitamin D in LP variant selection in areas of low UVB irradiation. LP variant selection advantage through acquiring another dairy micronutrient, vitamin B12, was not observed.

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“…Interestingly, white people, with less melanin, historically populated the northern regions of Earth. Black people have less transparent skin, which absorbs more UV light with melanin than does white skin, and therefore require more sun exposure to produce the same amount of vitamin D. This led to the vital advantage of natural mutations that reduced skin coloration in people in northern regions and thereby reduced vitamin D deficiency (Conway and Trudeau, 2018) [41]. As we already mentioned, aquatic animals have an advantage if they are transparent, and they have many natural mutations that reduce skin pigmentation.…”

Section: Methods For Reducing Light Absorptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tissue Transparency In Vivo

et al. 2019

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In vivo tissue transparency in the visible light spectrum is beneficial for many research applications that use optical methods, whether it involves in vivo optical imaging of cells or their activity, or optical intervention to affect cells or their activity deep inside tissues, such as brain tissue. The classical view is that a tissue is transparent if it neither absorbs nor scatters light, and thus absorption and scattering are the key elements to be controlled to reach the necessary transparency. This review focuses on the latest genetic and chemical approaches for the decoloration of tissue pigments to reduce visible light absorption and the methods to reduce scattering in live tissues. We also discuss the possible molecules involved in transparency.

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Sunshine, fertility and racial disparities

Cited by 7 publications

References 51 publications

Sunlight and Protection Against Influenza

Sunlight and Protection Against Influenza

The Eurasian lactase persistence variant LCT-13910 C/T is associated with vitamin D levels in individuals living at high latitude, more so than exposure to sunlight

Tissue Transparency In Vivo

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