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Updated: May 1, 2026

Microbiota Analysis Using Two-step PCR and Next-generation 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing
Published on: October 15, 2019
Vitamin D, immune regulation, the microbiota, and inflammatory bowel disease
Margherita T Cantorna1, Kaitlin McDaniel2, Stephanie Bora2
1Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA Center for Molecular Immunology and Infectious Disease, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA mxc69@psu.edu.
Abstract:
The inflammatory bowel diseases are complex diseases caused by environmental, immunological, and genetic factors. Vitamin D status is low in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, and experimental inflammatory bowel diseases are more severe in vitamin D-deficient or vitamin D receptor knockout animals. Vitamin D is beneficial in inflammatory bowel diseases because it regulates multiple checkpoints and processes essential for homeostasis in the gut. Vitamin D inhibits IFN-γ and IL-17 production while inducing regulatory T cells. In addition, vitamin D regulates epithelial cell integrity, innate immune responses, and the composition of the gut microbiota. Overall, vitamin D regulates multiple pathways that maintain gastrointestinal homeostasis. The data support improving vitamin D status in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.
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