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Vitamin D deficiency is now being recognized as one of the most common medical conditions worldwide. The consequences of vitamin
D deficiency include poor bone development and health as well as increased risk of many chronic diseases including type I
diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, stroke, infecti...
Citations
... Exposure to sunlight is thought to account for up to 90% of the body's VitD supply, but during the winter months sun exposure in most European countries does not result in the formation of VitD due to the low intensity of UVB radiation (14)(15)(16). The amount of VitD formed in the skin by UVB radiation depends on various environmental and personal factors, such as latitude, season, time of day, skin pigmentation, age, or use of sunscreen (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). It has already been established that constitutive skin pigmentation and/or skin phototype is an important predictor of VitD status when comparing people from different ethnic backgrounds (24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29), but how different levels of constitutive pigmentation affect VitD status in Caucasians has not yet been well described. ...
Introduction
Inadequate vitamin D status is a worldwide public health issue. In humans, vitamin D status is affected by diet, and even more by exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) light and consequential endogenous synthesis. Various personal and environmental factors influence endogenous synthesis. Factors affecting vitamin D status were investigated in a prospective longitudinal cohort study with a summer and winter observation period.
Methods
The final sample included 292 adults, of those 111 (38%) males and 181 (62%) females, with a mean age of 38.2 (±11.8) years from Slovenia who were not supplementing vitamin D. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations were measured in both periods; vitamin D intake, self-reported body mass index (BMI), and protective behaviors against sun were also recorded. Other measured parameters included measurements of constitutive skin color using the objective individual typology angle (ITA), and difference in the melanin index (ΔMI) for assessment of objective sun exposure.
Results
In winter a high prevalence (63.4%) of insufficient vitamin D status (< 50 nmoL/L) was observed with higher odds ratios (OR) for insufficiency in those with a higher BMI and light ITA. During summer, insufficiency prevalence was low (5.5%), but half of the participants (50.0%) had suboptimal 25(OH)D concentration (< 75 nmol/L). In summer OR for suboptimal status were higher in those with obesity, lower ΔMI, light ITA, low vitamin D intake, and protective clothing behaviors.
Conclusion
Using a series of measures, we showed that vitamin D status is hugely affected by several personal factors such as BMI, ITA, vitamin D intake, ΔMI, and protective behavior against the sun. This conclusion questions the usefulness of generalized population-level recommendations since personal factors are a major predictor of vitamin D status.
... The recommended amount of vitamin D ranges from 400 IU to 800 IU and its rich sources include cod liver oil, salmon, sardines, shiitake mushrooms, egg yolk, mackerel and tuna (Mahan et al., 2017). Vitamin D has been conventionally fortified in milk (Pietinen et al., 2010;Rahman et al., 2015), yogurt (El-Abbadi et al., 2014;Gasperi et al., 2019), cheeses, butter, margarine, breakfast cereals and orange juice (Holick, 2010), while eggs, milk and fish have been biofortified (Guo et al., 2019). ...
Due to sustainability concerns related to current diets and environmental challenges, it is crucial to have sound policies to protect human and planetary health. It is proposed that sustainable diets will improve public health and food security and decrease the food system's effect on the environment. Micronutrient deficiencies are a well-known major public health concern. One-third to half of the world's population suffers from nutrient deficiencies, which have a negative impact on society in terms of unrealised potential and lost economic productivity. Large-scale fortification with different micronutrients has been found to be a useful strategy to improve public health. As a cost-effective strategy to improve micronutrient deficiency, this review explores the role of micronutrient fortification programmes in ensuring the nutritional quality (and affordability) of diets that are adjusted to help ensure environmental sustainability in the face of climate change, for example by replacing some animal-sourced foods with nutrient-dense, plant-sourced foods fortified with the micronutrients commonly supplied by animal-sourced foods. Additionally, micronutrient fortification considers food preferences based on the dimensions of a culturally sustainable diet. Thus, we conclude that investing in micronutrient fortification could play a significant role in preventing and controlling micronutrient deficiencies, improving diets and being environmentally, culturally and economically sustainable.
... nutritional rickets]"(Munns et al., 2016, p. 398). Disruption of normal bone growth and remodeling in cases of rickets results in reduced levels and impaired (defective) mineralization of new bone matrix (e.g.,Holick, 2010). The growth plate is absent in most individuals considered by bioarchaeologists, but bone underlying the growth plate and associated lesions of the metaphysis are observed directly; porosity at Grade C and higher is considered "clear" (seeBrickley & Mays, 2019, fig. ...
Objectives:
Identifying scurvy and rickets has important implications for understanding adaptations and variability among past communities, and bioarchaeologists now regularly evaluate these conditions. Due to the increased number of studies, cases with less clear-cut lesions and variable preservation are now frequently reported. Despite an improved understanding of the biological mechanisms for disease expression, there is a lack of consensus on the language used to express diagnostic certainty, limiting comparability. This article aims to address these issues and provide recommendations on more consistent diagnostic terminology using widely accepted diagnostic methodology based on biological mechanisms.
Materials and methods:
We review diagnostic terms used in bioarchaeology by considering published cases of rickets, scurvy and co-occurrence alongside M.B.B.'s past project notes. We also consider differences in the diagnosis of rickets and scurvy in living and archeological individuals.
Results:
We provide recommendations on a framework that can be used to show diagnostic certainty in cases of rickets, scurvy, and co-occurrence. Core lesions of rickets and scurvy are used alongside a limited lexicon of diagnostic terminology based on the Istanbul protocol.
Discussion:
It is not the number of lesions that determines whether an individual is assigned to a particular diagnosis category, but rather the range and expression of lesions present. Avoiding a "tick-list" approach to core lesions of these diseases will be critical to ensure that identifying rickets and scurvy continues to contribute to understanding adaptations and variability among past communities. The framework allows more consistency in diagnostic certainty, facilitating greater comparability in research.
... The demand for calcium may be further exacerbated during vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D enhances the absorption of calcium through activation of vitamin D receptors in the intestine and by maintaining levels of calcium-binding protein (Ajibade et al., 2010;Fleet & Schoch, 2011;Holick, 2010). In the early stages of a vitamin D deficiency, low calcium levels can occur as the deficiency reduces intestinal calcium absorption and the amount of calcium re-absorbed in the kidney (Holick, 2010). ...
... Vitamin D enhances the absorption of calcium through activation of vitamin D receptors in the intestine and by maintaining levels of calcium-binding protein (Ajibade et al., 2010;Fleet & Schoch, 2011;Holick, 2010). In the early stages of a vitamin D deficiency, low calcium levels can occur as the deficiency reduces intestinal calcium absorption and the amount of calcium re-absorbed in the kidney (Holick, 2010). Low levels of calcium lead to increased expression of parathyroid hormone, which improves calcium absorption by the intestine and re-absorption in the kidney (Shore & Chesney, 2013). ...
Objectives
Cortical bone structure undergoes dynamic changes during appositional growth and is highly sensitive to mechanical, hormonal, and nutritional influences. Vitamin D deficiency rickets can significantly disrupt the normal mineralization of newly formed bone leading to compromised bone structure. Here, we document ontogenetic trends in femoral cortical bone area and porosity during early growth and examine how vitamin D deficiency during childhood may impact these parameters in a sample of children from post‐medieval London, UK.
Materials and Methods
Micro‐CT scans of the femur were collected from a documented sample of 138 children aged from birth to 8.5 years who were grouped by the presence and stage of rickets. Cross‐sections were extracted at the midsection and area and porosity measurements recorded. A local regression (LOESS) was used to fit curves to the dataset of children without rickets, which were used as comparative baselines for children with active and healed rickets.
Results
Cortical bone porosity was elevated in all children with active rickets most likely reflecting delayed mineralization of osteoid and increased resorption due to secondary hyperparathyroidism. Total subperiosteal area and cortical bone area were higher in children with healed rickets than children without rickets reflecting the mineralization of osteoid following recovery from the deficiency.
Discussion
The results demonstrate marked differences in cortical bone structure in children with rickets, which vary according to age and disease stage. This study illustrates the complex interaction between metabolic bone diseases and bone formation and the importance of considering ontogenetic changes in bone structure in the study of disease during childhood.
... Therefore, a strategy was created to absorb low calcium from the environment with maximum efficiency through the intestines. For unknown reasons, vitamin D gets a regulatory role in calcium absorption [8,16]. ...
Keywords Abbreviations https://IJVST.um.ac.ir In addition to the well-studied effects in regulating calcium and phosphorus balance, vitamin D has many non-cal-cemic effects that include acting as an immune modulator or an antioxidant. Cows acquire vitamin D either from photosynthesis in the skin or through swallowing fungi in the forage or vitamin D supplements. Although vitamin D deficiency is rare, today we are facing an increasing number of vitamin D deficiencies in cows due to the indoor housing away from sunlight exposure. According to the NRC recommendation, to maintain the vitamin D serum concentration in the range of 20 to 50 ng/ ml, it is necessary to administer 21,000 IU/ d of vitamin D in cattle. In addition, considering the involvement of vitamin D in various calcemic and non-calcemic effects, it seems that previously recommend levels of vitamin D supplementation have not been enough for preventing many diseases and disorders in cattle. Vitamin D toxicity may also occur due to over-supplementation of vitamin D or overgrazing in plants with high amounts of vitamin D metabolites. This review article will discuss various roles of vitamin D in dairy cattle health, normal physiology, and disease prevention. Calcitriol, Immune
... Several epidemiological studies have reported that cord blood vitamin D concentrations had an inverse association with the risk of both respiratory infection in childhood and childhood-onset allergic diseases. 6,7 While vitamin D concentrations in older children and adults are largely influenced by environmental exposures such as sun exposure and dietary intake, [8][9][10][11][12] cord blood vitamin D concentrations are mainly influenced by maternal vitamin D status. 13,14 Although the association between vitamin D concentrations in maternal blood during pregnancy and in cord blood is evident, the reported estimates of this association vary across studies. ...
Context:
Effect size estimates for the association between vitamin D concentrations in maternal blood during pregnancy and in cord blood vary widely across studies, but no meta-analysis has been conducted to ascertain this association.
Objective:
The aim of this systematic review was to estimate the pooled effect size for the association between circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations, a marker of vitamin D status, in maternal blood during pregnancy and in cord blood.
Data sources:
The PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched from their inception to February 2021.
Data extraction:
Following the application of prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria, 94 articles were eligible for full-text review, which was conducted by 2 authors independently. A third author was consulted when necessary and consensus reached. In total, 26 articles, which comprised 30 studies and 6212 mother-infant dyads, were included. Methodological quality was assessed using a modified version of the Joanna Briggs Institute's Critical Appraisal Checklist for Studies Reporting Prevalence Data. Correlation coefficient (r) values for the association between maternal serum 25(OH)D concentrations during pregnancy and in cord blood were extracted.
Data analysis:
The r values were pooled using random-effects meta-analyses. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were performed to investigate sources of heterogeneity. The pooled r for all studies was 0.72 (95%CI, 0.64-0.79), indicating high heterogeneity (I2 = 95%, P < 0.01). After influential and outlier studies were removed, the pooled r for 9 studies was 0.70 (95%CI, 0.66-0.74), which resulted in a substantial reduction in heterogeneity (I2 = 41%, P=0.10).
Conclusion:
The findings support a positive and large correlation between maternal vitamin D concentrations during pregnancy and vitamin D concentrations in cord blood.
Systematic review registration:
PROSPERO registration number CRD42021273348.
... Vitamin D plays a crucial part in calcium metabolism. A prime function of vitamin D is to facilitate the absorption of calcium from the intestine (Holick, 2010). The overwhelming majority of cases of rickets are due to insufficient acquisition of vitamin D (Holick, 2006;Chibuzor et al., 2020). ...
Objective
Rickets is considered an indicator of vitamin D deficiency in palaeopathology, but a strand of biomedical thought maintains that dietary calcium deficiency may sometimes play a part in its causation. Our aim is to evaluate the extent to which low calcium intake should be considered as a factor in biocultural interpretations of rickets.
Methods
We assess published modern epidemiological studies that provide primary data to support claims for a role for dietary calcium deficiency in rickets. We also consider how we might identify, via indicators of calcium intake, populations at risk of calcium deficiency in the past.
Results
Support for dietary calcium deficiency as a cause of rickets is equivocal. Direct measurement of dietary calcium in the past is not possible, but exposure to risk factors for low calcium intake can to some extent be identified.
Conclusion
Whilst there is little evidence to alter the view that rickets is essentially an indicator of a population’s vitamin D status, occasionally, in very low calcium intake groups, dietary calcium deficiency may play a synergistic role by accentuating the need for vitamin D.
Significance
The notion that dietary calcium deficiency may be a cause of rickets appears to be gaining currency in bioarchaeological studies. This paper shows that it is unusual for this to be the case, and even then the role of vitamin D remains crucial.
Limitations
This paper attempts to summarise the current state of biomedical study in an area that is subject to continuing investigation.
... As long as blood level of 25(OH) D does not exceed 150 ng/ml, vitamin D intoxication is very unlikely to occur. Since blood level of 25(OH) D increases only by 1ng/ml for every 100 International Units (IU) vitamin D ingested, the daily recommended vitamin D intake for infants should be at least 400 IU, for children at least 600 IU according to both Endocrine Society and Institutes of Medicine and between 1500-2000 IUs for adults according to Endocrine Society [20,21]. Considering the limited amount of sunlight exposure in this pandemic, these should be the minimum doses of every age range. ...
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is supposed to cause vitamin D deficiency in many people by a direct effect of home quarantine in the affected countries. Generally, vitamin D provides the human body with significant health benefits including bone development, specific gene regulation and protection against different diseases. However, deficiency of optimal amounts of vitamin D inside the human body may result in susceptibility to multiple infectious diseases. Therefore, with vitamin D levels gravely decreased by reduced movement and activity, a number of possible negative outcomes are expected in COVID-19 patients, pregnant women and children during this ongoing pandemic. Vitamin D has a direct inhibitory effect on post infection through a number of mechanisms that promises to make vitamin D a future adjunctive therapy for COVID-19 treatment. Besides, clinical evidence also supports its role in preventing pregnancy complications and improving pregnancy outcomes. Consistent with the manifold role of vitamin D, an increasing number of studies suggest its role in improving the mental health of children who have been adversely affected throughout this pandemic. This review article discusses the potential roles of vitamin D on COVID-19 patients, pregnant women and children focusing its scope to become a supplementary candidate for these vulnerable groups to combat the ongoing pandemic.
... Age-dependent variation in the plasma vitamin D levels has been reported, but there is no evidence of significant difference among male and female populations. All kinds of populations living at greater than 35° latitude are at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency due to reduced exposure to sunlight [36]. In addition to limited sun exposure, several other risk factors for vitamin D deficiency include low intake in diet, decreased epidermal levels of 7-dehydrocholesterol, thin epidermis, decreased appetite, overweight/obesity, decreased physical activity, decreased renal synthesis of 1,25(OH) 2 D and its increased catabolism [37][38][39][40][41][42]. ...
Abstract
Introduction: Global emergence of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has clearly shown variable severity, mortality, and frequency between and within populations worldwide. These striking differences have made many biological variables attractive for future investigations. One of these variables, vitamin D, has been implicated in COVID-19 with rapidly growing scientific evidence. Areas covered: The review intended to systematically explore the sources, and immunomodulatory the role of vitamin D in COVID-19. Search engines and data sources including Google Scholar, PubMed, NCBI, Scopus, and Web of Science were used for data collection. The search terms used were Vitamin D, COVID-19, immune system, antiviral mechanism. Overall, 232 sources of information were collected and 188 were included in this review. Expert opinion: Interaction of vitamin D and vitamin D receptor (VDR), triggers the cellular events to modulate the immune system by regulation of many genes. Vitamin D operates as a double-edged sword against COVID-19. First, in macrophages, it promotes the production of antimicrobial and antiviral proteins like β-defensin 2 and cathelicidin, these proteins inhibit the replication of viral particles and promote the clearance of virus from the cells by autophagy. Second, suppresses cytokine storm and inflammatory processes in COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19; Vitamin D; immune system; mechanism of action; photosynthesis.
... Age-dependent variation in the plasma vitamin D levels has been reported, but there is no evidence of significant difference among male and female populations. All kinds of populations living at greater than 35° latitude are at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency due to reduced exposure to sunlight [36]. In addition to limited sun exposure, several other risk factors for vitamin D deficiency include low intake in diet, decreased epidermal levels of 7-dehydrocholesterol, thin epidermis, decreased appetite, overweight/obesity, decreased physical activity, decreased renal synthesis of 1,25(OH) 2 D and its increased catabolism [37][38][39][40][41][42]. ...
Introduction: Global emergence of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has clearly shown variable severity, mortality, and frequency between and within populations worldwide. These striking differences have made many biological variables attractive for future investigations. One of these variables, vitamin D, has been implicated in COVID-19 with rapidly growing scientific evidence.
Areas covered: The review intended to systematically explore the sources, and immunomodulatory role of vitamin D in COVID-19. Search engines and data sources including Google Scholar, PubMed, NCBI, Scopus, and Web of Science were used for data collection. The search terms used were Vitamin D, COVID-19, immune system, and antiviral mechanism. Overall, 232 sources of information were collected and 188 were included in this review.
Expert opinion: Interaction of vitamin D and vitamin D receptor (VDR) triggers the cellular events to modulate the immune system by regulation of many genes. Vitamin D operates as a double-edged sword against COVID-19. First, in macrophages, it promotes the production of antimicrobial and antiviral proteins like β-defensin 2 and cathelicidin, and these proteins inhibit the replication of viral particles and promote the clearance of virus from the cells by autophagy. Second, it suppresses cytokine storm and inflammatory processes in COVID-19.
