Vitamin D  is known for the maintenance of mineral homeostasis and normal skeletal architecture. However, apart from these traditional calcium-related actions, 1,25- (OH)2D3 and its synthetic analogs are being increasingly recognized for their potent antiproliferative, prodifferentiative, and immunomodulatory activities. Potential therapeutic applications include in inflammation (rheumatoid ar- thritis, psoriatic arthritis), in dermatological indications (pso- riasis, actinic keratosis, seborrheic dermatitis, photoaging), in osteoporosis (postmenopausal and steroid-induced osteopo- rosis), cancers (prostate, colon, breast, myelodysplasia, leu-kemia, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and basal cell carcinoma), secondary hyperparathyroidism, and autoimmune diseases (systemic lupus erythematosus, type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and organ transplantation).

The researchers found that immune systems’ killer cells, known as T cells, rely on vitamin D to become active and remain dormant and unaware of the possibility of threat from an infection or pathogen if vitamin D is lacking in the blood. These findings by Danish researchers could help the fight against infectious diseases and global epidemics, they said, and could be particularly useful in the search for new vaccines.

Read: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6261IX20100308

http://edrv.endojournals.org/cgi/reprint/26/5/662