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Review
. 2007 Sep;66(9):1137-42.
doi: 10.1136/ard.2007.069831. Epub 2007 Jun 8.

Vitamin D and autoimmunity: new aetiological and therapeutic considerations

Yoav Arnson  1 , Howard Amital, Yehuda Shoenfeld
Affiliations
Review

Vitamin D and autoimmunity: new aetiological and therapeutic considerations

Yoav Arnson et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2007 Sep.

Abstract

Vitamin D is frequently prescribed by rheumatologists to prevent and treat osteoporosis. Several observations have shown that vitamin D inhibits proinflammatory processes by suppressing the enhanced activity of immune cells that take part in the autoimmune reaction. Moreover, recent evidence strongly suggests that vitamin D supplementation may be therapeutically beneficial, particularly for Th1-mediated autoimmune disorders. Some reports imply that vitamin D may even be preventive in certain disorders such as multiple sclerosis and diabetes type 1. It seems that vitamin D has crossed the boundaries of calcium metabolism and has become a significant factor in a number of physiological functions, specifically as a biological inhibitor of inflammatory hyperactivity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None.

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