Vitamin D supplements could fight Crohn’s disease

Montreal - McGill Montreal, January 27, 2010 " A new study has found that Vitamin D, readily available in supplements or cod liver oil, can counter the effects of Crohn"s disease. John White, an endocrinologist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, led a team of scientists from McGill University and the Université de Montréal who present their findings about the inflammatory bowel disease in the latest Journal of Biological Chemistry. "Our data suggests, for the first time, that Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to Crohn"s disease," says Dr. White, a professor in McGill"s Department of Physiology, noting that people from northern countries, which receive less sunlight that is necessary for the fabrication of Vitamin D by the human body, are particularly vulnerable to Crohn"s disease. Vitamin D, in its active form (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D), is a hormone that binds to receptors in the body"s cells. Dr. White"s interest in Vitamin D was originally in its effects in mitigating cancer. Because his results kept pointing to Vitamin D"s effects on the immune system, specifically the innate immune system that acts as the body"s first defense against microbial invaders, he investigated Crohn"s disease. "It"s a defect in innate immune handling of intestinal bacteria that leads to an inflammatory response that may lead to an autoimmune condition," stresses Dr. White.