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Cord blood vitamin D status impacts innate immune responses

Valencia P Walker1, Xiaoran Zhang, Ida Rastegar

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology and Developmental Biology, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. vpwalker@mednet.ucla.edu

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
|April 8, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Newborn vitamin D deficiency impairs the antimicrobial response in monocytes. Supplementing with 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) [25(OH)D(3)] in vitro restored these crucial immune functions, highlighting vitamin D

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Neonatal Health
  • Nutritional Science

Background:

  • Vitamin D plays a critical role in immune system regulation.
  • Toll-like receptor (TLR) pathways are essential for innate immunity and antimicrobial defense.
  • Cord blood vitamin D levels may influence neonatal immune responses.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess vitamin D concentrations in newborn cord blood.
  • To investigate the impact of vitamin D deficiency on TLR-induced antimicrobial responses in neonatal monocytes.
  • To determine if in vitro vitamin D supplementation can restore these responses.

Main Methods:

  • Measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)(2)D] in cord blood from 23 newborns.
  • Culture of human monocytes in cord blood plasma.
  • Stimulation of monocytes with TLR2 and TLR4 ligands, followed by analysis of antimicrobial gene expression via quantitative PCR.

Main Results:

  • Positive correlation observed between cord blood 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)(2)D concentrations.
  • Monocytes from severely vitamin D-deficient plasma showed reduced TLR-induced cathelicidin expression compared to sufficient plasma.
  • In vitro supplementation with 25(OH)D(3) enhanced antimicrobial peptide gene expression.

Conclusions:

  • Cord blood vitamin D deficiency negatively impacts TLR-induced antimicrobial production in neonatal monocytes.
  • Exogenous 25(OH)D(3) supplementation in vitro effectively restored TLR-induced antimicrobial responses.
  • Further research is warranted to fully understand vitamin D's role in newborn immunity.
Abstract

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