The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is highest for people that live in the Northern parts of the United States and Canada. Vitamin D status has been shown to change with season as a result of decreased sunlight exposure that produces vitamin D in the skin. In addition, the diet is a relatively poor source of vitamin D. Experimental IBD is more severe in vitamin D deficient mice and the active form of vitamin D (1,25(OH)2D3) suppresses the disease. We hypothesize that decreased outdoor activity and increased pollution and diets that lack adequate vitamin D have combined to create large fluctuations in vitamin D status in developed countries and especially in populations that experience winter. We propose that vitamin D exposure prenatally as well as postnatally alters immune function and as a result IBD. The vitamin D hypothesis proposes that vitamin D regulates the development and function of the immune system and that changes in vitamin D status especially prenatal as well as childhood alterations affect the development of the resultant immune response and the development of diseases like IBD. Our preliminary data show that the increased susceptibility of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) KO mice to experimental IBD is a result of altered T cell homing that results in few mucosal CD8aa regulatory T cells in the gut. We propose that CD8aa T cells require vitamin D and that even transient periods of low vitamin D status result in decreases in the CD8aa T cells of the intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL). We hypothesize that vitamin D is required for the development of the mucosal CD8aa T cell receptor a? IEL. The mechanisms involved might include an effect on gut T cell homing, development of CD8aa precursors in the thymus, and/or extrathymic signals that induce expression of CD8aa. The mechanisms by which vitamin D and the VDR regulate the CD8aa T cells will be determined. The data generated from these experiments is critical to the understanding of the effects of vitamin D on immunity and the potential use of high dose vitamin D as an alternative way to prevent or treat diseases like IBD. Public Health Relevance: There is at present a great deal of misinformation about vitamin D and vitamin D supplements as immune system modulators in the public forum. Identifying the cellular and molecular targets of vitamin D in the immune system is important so that rational decisions about the use of vitamin D supplements for healthy individuals as well as patients with autoimmune diseases like inflammatory bowel disease can be made.

Public Health Relevance

There is at present a great deal of misinformation about vitamin D and vitamin D supplements as immune system modulators in the public forum. Identifying the cellular and molecular targets of vitamin D in the immune system is important so that rational decisions about the use of vitamin D supplements for healthy individuals as well as patients with autoimmune diseases like inflammatory bowel disease can be made.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
3R01AT005378-04S1
Application #
8488894
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAT1 (13))
Program Officer
Pontzer, Carol H
Project Start
2009-08-01
Project End
2014-07-31
Budget Start
2012-08-01
Budget End
2013-07-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$145,307
Indirect Cost
$45,307
Name
Pennsylvania State University
Department
Veterinary Sciences
Type
Schools of Earth Sciences/Natur
DUNS #
003403953
City
University Park
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
16802
Bora, Stephanie A; Kennett, Mary J; Smith, Philip B et al. (2018) Regulation of vitamin D metabolism following disruption of the microbiota using broad spectrum antibiotics. J Nutr Biochem 56:65-73
Tian, Yuan; Nichols, Robert G; Cai, Jingwei et al. (2018) Vitamin A deficiency in mice alters host and gut microbial metabolism leading to altered energy homeostasis. J Nutr Biochem 54:28-34
Bora, Stephanie A; Kennett, Mary J; Smith, Philip B et al. (2018) The Gut Microbiota Regulates Endocrine Vitamin D Metabolism through Fibroblast Growth Factor 23. Front Immunol 9:408
James, Jamaal; Weaver, Veronika; Cantorna, Margherita T (2017) Control of Circulating IgE by the Vitamin D Receptor In Vivo Involves B Cell Intrinsic and Extrinsic Mechanisms. J Immunol 198:1164-1171
Bora, Stephanie; Cantorna, Margherita T (2017) The role of UVR and vitamin D on T cells and inflammatory bowel disease. Photochem Photobiol Sci 16:347-353
Chen, J; Waddell, A; Lin, Y-D et al. (2015) Dysbiosis caused by vitamin D receptor deficiency confers colonization resistance to Citrobacter rodentium through modulation of innate lymphoid cells. Mucosal Immunol 8:618-26
Cantorna, Margherita T; Snyder, Lindsay; Lin, Yang-Ding et al. (2015) Vitamin D and 1,25(OH)2D regulation of T cells. Nutrients 7:3011-21
Waddell, Amanda; Zhao, Jun; Cantorna, Margherita T (2015) NKT cells can help mediate the protective effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice. Int Immunol 27:237-44
McDaniel, Kaitlin L; Restori, Katherine H; Dodds, Jeffery W et al. (2015) Vitamin A-Deficient Hosts Become Nonsymptomatic Reservoirs of Escherichia coli-Like Enteric Infections. Infect Immun 83:2984-91
Cantorna, Margherita T; McDaniel, Kaitlin; Bora, Stephanie et al. (2014) Vitamin D, immune regulation, the microbiota, and inflammatory bowel disease. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 239:1524-30

Showing the most recent 10 out of 33 publications