Vitamin D 'triggers and arms' the immune system

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7379094/Vitamin-D-triggers-and-arms-the-immune-system.html

Vitamin D 'triggers and arms' the immune system

Vitamin D is crucial to the fending off of infections, claims new

research.

By

Alleyne, Science Correspondent

Published: 6:00PM GMT 07 Mar 2010

The so-called sunshine vitamin, which can be obtained from food or

manufactured by human skin exposed to the sun, plays a key role in

boosting the immune system, researchers believe.

In particular it triggers and arms the body's T cells, the cells in the

body that seek out and destroy any invading bacteria and viruses.

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that Vitamin D

is crucial to activating our immune defences and that without sufficient

intake of the vitamin, the killer cells of the immune system – T cells –

will not be able to react to and fight off serious infections in the

body.

For T cells to detect and kill foreign pathogens such as clumps of

bacteria or viruses, the cells must first be ‘triggered’ into action and

" transform " from inactive and harmless immune cells into killer

cells that are primed to seek out and destroy all traces of invaders.

The researchers found that the T cells rely on vitamin D in order

activate and they would remain dormant, ‘naïve’ to the possibility of

threat if vitamin D is lacking in the blood.

Professor Carsten Geisler from the Department of International Health,

Immunology and Microbiology, said: " When a T cell is exposed to a

foreign pathogen, it extends a signalling device or ‘antenna’ known as a

vitamin D receptor, with which it searches for vitamin D.

" This means that the T cell must have vitamin D or activation of the

cell will cease. If the T cells cannot find enough vitamin D in the

blood, they won’t even begin to mobilise. ”

The discovery, the scientists believe, provides much needed information

about the immune system and will help them regulate the immune response.

This is important not only in fighting disease but also in dealing with

anti-immune reactions of the body and the rejection of transplanted

organs.

Active T cells multiply at an explosive rate and can create an

inflammatory environment with serious consequences for the body.

After organ transplants, T cells can attack the donor organ as a ‘foreign

invader’. In autoimmune diseases, like arthritis or Crohns Disease, T

cells mistake fragments of the body’s own cells for foreign invaders,

leading to the body launching an attack upon itself.

For the research team, identifying the role of vitamin D in the

activation of T cells has been a major breakthrough.

“Scientists have known for a long time that vitamin D is important for

calcium absorption and the vitamin has also been implicated in diseases

such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, but what we didn’t realise is how

crucial vitamin D is for actually activating the immune system – which we

know now, ” said the researchers.

The findings, continues Professor Geisler, “could help us to contain

infectious diseases and global epidemics.

They will be of particular use when developing new vaccines, which work

precisely on the basis of both training our immune systems to react and

suppressing the body’s natural defences in situations where this is

important – as is the case with organ transplants and autoimmune

disease.”

Most Vitamin D is produced as a natural by-product of the skin’s exposure

to sunlight. It can also be found in fish liver oil, eggs and fatty fish

such as salmon, herring and mackerel or taken as a dietary supplement.

The findings are published in the latest edition of Nature Immunology.

Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Hahnemannian

Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Washington State, USA

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