the effects of vitamin d on allergen-induced expression of interleukin-13 and interleukin-17 in cord blood cd4⁺t cells.

cytokine production  in response to allergens may influence the development of atopy- predisposing immune responses, initializing the  early programming of  allergy and  asthma. vitamin d  intake  may be  protective  due  to  its  immunoregulatory properties,  that  may contribute  to  influence the expression of  the atopic phenotype  initiated in early life. the objective of our study was to investigate the effects of 1,25-(oh)2d3 on allergen-stimulated expression of asthma related cytokines in cord blood t cells. cord blood samples were collected from the umblilical vein of 24 term deliveries during labor, cd4+t cells derived from cord blood mononuclear cells (cbmcs), were cultured for 72 hours with ovalbumin (ova), β-lactoglobulin (β-lg), respectively, in presence or absence of 1,25-(oh)2d3  to detect the levels of interleukin-13 (il-13) and interleukin-17 (il-17) in culture supernatants and the mrna expressions in cd4+t cells. after  allergens  stimulation,  cd4+t   cells  showed  an  increase  of  il-13  and  il-17 production, while cultured in the presence of 1,25-(oh)2d3  displayed a statistically significant down-regulation of allergen-induced expression of il-13 and il-17 in cd4+t cells. these  results indicated that  allergens may induce changes in cd4+t  cell function  to increase inflammatory cytokine production. 1,25-(oh)2d3  modulated the capacity of cd4+t cells in response to allergens, which might be protective for allergy.