IMR Press / FBL / Volume 27 / Issue 10 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2710288
Open Access Review
Vitamin D in Prevention of Autoimmune Diseases
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1 Pediatric Gastroenterology and Cystic Fibrosis Unit, Department of Human Pathology in Adulthood and Childhood “G. Barresi'', University of Messina, 98124 Messina, Italy
2 Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
3 Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Pediatric Unit, 20122 Milan, Italy
*Correspondence: dipasquale.valeria@libero.it (Valeria Dipasquale)
These authors contributed equally.
Academic Editor: Elad Tako
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2022, 27(10), 288; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2710288
Submitted: 30 July 2022 | Revised: 14 October 2022 | Accepted: 18 October 2022 | Published: 24 October 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Micronutrients)
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Vitamin D is essential for the regulation of the immune system. In recent years, the role of vitamin D in the control of several autoimmune conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), celiac disease, type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), and others has been investigated. The aim of this review was to define the level of knowledge on vitamin D’s role in these disorders, as well as the preventive and therapeutic role of vitamin D supplementation. Relevant studies published over the last 20 years were identified via a PubMed/Medline (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) search using the keywords: vitamin D, autoimmune disease, and prevention. Vitamin D deficiency or impaired function of the enzymes necessary for its activity has been shown to affect the onset and severity of the autoimmune diseases examined. Vitamin D supplementation appears useful in the support therapy of IBD. Its role in celiac disease, autoimmune hepatitis, T1DM, and autoimmune thyroiditis is unclear. In conclusion, further studies are needed to define whether vitamin D is a cause or a result of the most common autoimmune, extra-skeletal diseases, such as IBD. Vitamin D should be provided to all newborns during their first year of life. Afterwards, the vitamin D supplementation regimen should be tailored to the presence of risk factors for vitamin D deficiency and/or specific disease.

Keywords
autoimmune disease
vitamin D
prevention
prophylaxis
treatment
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