How Vitamin D Strengthens Cancer Immunotherapy: New Study on Microbiome Effects

Vitamin D changes… Microbiome The intestine to strengthen the response to cancer immunotherapies, according to a new study conducted on mice.

The study was carried out by researchers from the Francis Crick Institute and Cancer Research UK, Francis Crick Institute / Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, University of Manchester, and was published on April 25 in Journal of science And he wrote about it Eurek Alert website.

Vitamin D and immune response

The study results highlight the poorly understood relationship between vitamin D and immune responses to cancer via gut bacteria, and suggest that vitamin D levels may be a potential predictor of cancer immunity and immunotherapy success.

Vitamin D plays an important role in modulating immunity as well as forming the intestinal microbiome, the microorganisms that live in the intestines, which have a major impact on health, regardless of it is positive or negative.

Vitamin D and cancer

Studies have investigated the role of micronutrients in cancer immunity, as they have been linked to a lower incidence of tumors, lower mortality rates for many types of cancer, and a better response to cancer treatment of cancer immunotherapy. to see

Through genetic and nutritional manipulation in mice, Evangelos Giambazoulias, a researcher at the Francis Crick Institute and Cancer Research UK, and his colleagues found that increased bioavailability of vitamin D leads to changes in the microbiome in ways which favors Bacteroides fragilis, a Gram-negative anaerobic. bacteria found in humans and mice.

According to Giambazoulias and colleagues, the increase in Bacteroidetes fragilis enhanced the immune system against cancer. In addition, the researchers found that this increased immunity to cancer could be transferred to other mice through fecal transplantation.

Further studies are needed

Although Giambazoulias and colleagues showed a link between vitamin D activity and a reduction in the incidence of cancer in humans, the authors note that long-term studies in humans are needed to confirm the interaction. between vitamin D availability and dietary supplementation with the microbiome and cancer immunity.

Vitamin D and human health

According to Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health(Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan) Vitamin D is a nutrient we eat and a hormone our bodies make.

Some foods naturally contain vitamin D. Fatty fish meat and fish liver oils are the best sources of vitamin D. Smaller amounts are found in egg yolks, cheese, and meat liver. Many foods and supplements are fortified with vitamin D, such as dairy products and cereals.

Vitamin D production in the skin is the main natural source of vitamin D, but many people have insufficient levels because they live in places where sunlight is limited in winter, or because they are so exposed to sunlight because they are indoors. hour.

Vitamin D supplements are available in two forms: vitamin D2, known as “ergocalciferol” or pre-vitamin D, and vitamin D3 (“cholecalciferol”). Both are also natural forms that are produced in the presence of the sun’s ultraviolet (UVB) rays, hence the nickname, the “sunshine vitamin,” but D2 is produced in the plants and fungi and D3 in animals, including… That’s people.