Infection Inflammation and Vitamin D

Vitamin D is essential for the organism and it interacts with a lot of systems in mammalians. Vitamin D deficiency is common in the world. Many studies have shown that chronic vitamin D deficiency may have serious adverse consequences such as increased risk of hypertension, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, infections and malignancy, autoimmune diseases. New ones have been added on these adverse consequences nowadays.

Vitamin D has got both stimulatory and antiproliferative effects on the immune system. This paradoxical effects of 1, 25-(OH)₂D₃ leads to discussions about the relationship between the immune systems and vitamin D. Inflammatory markers can be increased with other reasons in patients with vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency may occur due to insufficient intake, hepatic disease, renal disease, loss of vitamin D binding protein etc. Many confounding factors will affect this relationship in both cases.

Despite large-scaled studies found a positive relationship between vitamin D deficiency and some markers of inflammation but on the contrary many studies cannot find this relationship. The aim of this brief review is to discuss whether plasma 25 hydroxy vitamin D [25-(OH) D] level is associated with inflammatory markers in general population and in patients with chronic kidney disease. For this purpose, the old and new data related to the immune systems and vitamin D will be examined.