The requirements for vitamin D were last set in 1997 by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine. Intakes were assumed to come from diet, and values were based on achievement of adequate vitamin D status and on observed values to prevent seasonal variations in parathyroid hormone concentrations. Serum 25hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were considered the best indicator of vitam...

Background Studies exploring the relationship between prenatal vitamin D exposure and childhood asthma have yielded conflicting results. Higher vitamin D intake during pregnancy has been shown to lower the risk of childhood wheeze, yet a study of maternal late-pregnancy serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D suggested higher serum concentrations may be associated with increased childhood asthma. Objective T...

We determined the association between vitamin D status as 25hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and disease activity in a cohort of 201 Crohn's Disease (CD) patients in Saskatoon, Canada over three years. The association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and 25(OH)D and several disease predictors were evaluated by the generalized estimating equation (GEE) over three time-point measure...

Concerns about vitamin D have resurfaced in medical and scientific literature because the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the United States, particularly among darkly pigmented persons, has increased. The primary goals of this review were to discuss past and current literature and to reassess the dietary reference intake for vitamin D in adults, with particular focus on women during pregn...

Phototherapy (broadband UVB, narrowband UVB (NBUVB) and heliotherapy – treatment with natural sunlight) is a commonly used treatment modality for widespread psoriasis. A similar wavelength spectrum of UVB (280-315 nm) is responsible for vitamin D synthesis in the skin. Vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol, is produced from 7-dehydrocholesterol in the basal epidermis when exposed to UVB, and is then h...

T he worldwide prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is striking, and more than 40% of the population may be vitamin D deficient. Despite this, to our knowledge there are no long-term studies of the safety and efficacy of giving pharmacologic doses of vitamin D (50 000 IU of ergocalciferol [vitamin D2]) to treat and prevent vitamin D deficiency. Furthermore, there is a concern that ergocalciferol,...

It is known that vitamin D may affect renal homeostasis and is inversely correlated with serum parathormone (PTH). We proposed some classes of levels of serum 25hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and PTH, we wondered whether fast plasma glucose concentrations or less costly criterion as Age or BMI could be used to predict classification of each woman of our cohort in classes of serum 25(OH)D/PTH concen...

Patients 560 patients who were 17–83 years of age and had rheumatological, pulmonary, dermatological, gastrointestinal, or other diseases that required >1 year of glucocorticoid treatment (daily dose >7.5 mg of prednisone or its equivalent). Exclusion criteria were evidence of metabolic bone disease (other than glucocorticoid induced or postmenopausal osteoporosis), low serum 25hydroxyvitamin D...

P rimary dysmenorrhea is a common disorder characterized by painful uterine cramping, just before or during menstruation, in the absence of any pelvic pathologic conditions. It is frequently accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, asthenia, and insomnia. Primary dysmenorrhea affects almost half of menstruating women, often resulting in school and work absenteeism with ...

Control of tuberculosis worldwide depends on our understanding of human immune mechanisms, which combat the infection. Acquired T cell responses are critical for host defense against microbial pathogens, yet the mechanisms by which they act in humans remain unclear. We report that T cells, by the release of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), induce autophagy, phagosomal maturation, the production of antimic...