Vitamin D as a Principal Factor in Mediating Rheumatoid Arthritis-Derived Immune Response

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic multifactorial autoimmune disorder. The interactions between diverse environmental and genetic factors lead to the onset of this complex autoimmune disorder. Serum levels of vitamin D (VD) are involved in the regulation of various immune responses. Vitamin D is a key signaling molecule in the human body that maintains calcium as well as phosphate homeostasis. It also regulates the functions of the immune system and, thus, can play a substantial role in the etiology of various autoimmune disorders, including RA. Low serum VD levels have been found to be associated with a higher risk of RA, although this finding has not been replicated consistently. The molecular mechanisms by which VD influences autoimmunity need to be further explored to understand how variation in plasma VD levels could affect the pathogenesis of RA. This mini-review focuses on the influence of VD and its serum levels on RA susceptibility, RA-associated complexities, treatment, and transcriptome products of key proinflammatory cytokines, along with other cytokines that are key regulators of inflammation in rheumatoid joints.

The possible pathophysiology mechanism of cytokine storm in elderly adults with COVID-19 infection: the contribution of “inflame-aging”

“…Elderly adults are at risk for VD deficiency due to several factors, including decreased pre-VD production, poor skin integrity decreased dietary intake of VD, increasing adiposity, obesity, decreased renal function, as well as less time spent outdoors [120]. VD deficiency has been linked to various aging-related inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cancer [121]. Additionally, there is a correlation between VD deficiency and risk of respiratory tract infection such as COVID-19 [122].…”

Possible role of vitamin D in Covid-19 infection in pediatric population

“…In this autoimmune disease using calcitriol supplementation reduces serum levels of antibodies and slows the progression of β cell destruction down in the early stages of the disease [38], Interestingly, it has also been demonstrated that in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) [39] the VDR could act as a negative regulator of TGF-β/ Hydroxyproline, col1a1, col3a1 and alfa-SMA mRNAs ↓ Prevention of bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in a murine model [48] Smad signaling, thus making vitamin D a putative antifibrotic treatment in the early stages of the disease. Although the immunoregulatory function of activated vitamin D has been widely demonstrated, its role in modulating disease activity in patients with autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis was only recently showed [40,41]. In a German study on a selected cohort of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), vitamin D levels not only proved to be lower than those of their peers from the general population, but were also found to be inversely correlated with disease activity and the risk of progression to an extended disease course and/or JIA-associated anterior uveitis [42].…”

Understanding the Biological Activities of Vitamin D in Type 1 Neurofibromatosis: New Insights into Disease Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Design

“…Additionally, vitamin D can modulate both adaptive and innate immunity [ 191 ]. Indeed, vitamin D deficiency is associated with several autoimmune diseases [ 192 ], for example, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) [ 193 , 194 ], inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) [ 195 , 196 , 197 , 198 ] and multiple sclerosis (MS) [ 199 , 200 , 201 , 202 ]. Associations between low vitamin D status and autoimmune thyroid diseases and thyroid cancer were also found [ 203 ].…”