About one of 400 people with Crohn's Disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, affected. Since there is no direct healing, the treatment focuses mostly on inflammation control, control of symptoms and prolongation of the symptom-free periods. It is believed that the disease is based on a problem of the immune system, leading to an inflammatory reaction to the living bacteria in the intestines. Recent studies from Canada suggest that low vitamin D level, which is important for the immune system, the risk of Crohn's disease increased.
The researchers investigated the effects of vitamin D to two, associated with Crohn's disease genes. The beta-defensin-2 gene is important for the production of antimicrobial substances, while the NOD2 gene stimulates the immune system to detect intruders.
During the study, the researchers discovered that the patient is a lack of or ineffective NOD2 gene (which in Crohn's disease is often the case) has difficulty to fight invaders in the intestinal tract. They noted also that vitamin D has the important function of the genes to make and reduce the risk of Crohn's disease may possibly.
The scientists completed their analysis by saying: "For the siblings of patients with Crohn's disease who have not yet developed the disease, it is advisable to make sure they have enough vitamin D."
Source: TT Wang et al. (2010) Direct and indirect induction by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 of the NOD2/CARD15-beta defensin 2 innate immune pathway defective in Crohn's disease. Journal of Biological Chemistry. Volume 285th pp. 2227-2231.
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