News From The Journal Of Clinical Investigation

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News From The Journal Of Clinical Investigation: Aug. 16, 2010

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/197957.php

PULMONARY: Can vitamin D reduce a complication of cystic fibrosis?

The lungs of most individuals with cystic fibrosis are colonized by the mold

Aspergillus fumigatus. In some this causes a condition known as allergic

bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA), which is characterized by wheezing, lung

infiltration by immune cells, and lung scarring, while others remain disease

free. A team of researchers, led by Jay Kolls, at Louisiana State University

Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, has now compared individuals with cystic

fibrosis with and without ABPA and identified an immune signature of ABPA.

Specifically, individuals with ABPA exhibited heightened immune responses known

as CD4+ Th2 responses and lower levels of vitamin D in the blood. As in vitro

addition of vitamin D reduced Th2 responses by CD4+ T cells from patients with

ABPA, the authors suggest that vitamin D should be tested for its ability to

prevent and/or treat ABPA in individuals with cystic fibrosis.

Title:

Vitamin D3 attenuates Th2 responses to Aspergillus fumigatus mounted by CD4+ T

cells from cystic fibrosis patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis