Asthma, allergy and respiratory infections: the vitamin D hypothesis

Allergy, Volume 67, Issue 1, pages 10–17, January 2012
S. Bozzetto1, S. Carraro1, G. Giordano1, A. Boner2, E. Baraldi1
1 Allergy Unit and Respiratory Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Padova, Padova
2 Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Verona, Italy

• Eugenio Baraldi, Unit of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padova, Italy. Tel.: +390498213560 Fax: +390498213502 E-mail: baraldi at pediatria.unipd.it

The recent discovery that every tissue in the human body has vitamin D receptors and that vitamin D has pleiotropic effects has prompted an increased interest in this hormone. Vitamin D deficiency is widespread and on the increase. There is no consensus on the serum vitamin D levels to consider appropriate for global health, the cutoffs for its deficiency, or the doses to use for its supplementation. Vitamin D seems to correlate closely with host reactions against various respiratory infections. Epidemiological studies have shown that low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are associated with a higher risk of upper and lower respiratory infections in children and a shortage of vitamin D may contribute to asthmatic patients’ symptoms and morbidity rates. There are studies highlighting associations between childhood asthma, fetal lung and/or immune development, and maternal vitamin D intake. An insufficiency of this vitamin also seems to be implicated in the onset of childhood atopy and food allergies.

The hypothesis is that vitamin D could have a central role in these pathological situations and that it may represent a novel preventive and/or therapeutic strategy. This article reviews and discusses published data on the relationship between vitamin D and asthma and allergy, emphasizing the need for controlled, prospective studies on vitamin D supplementation to clarify whether it has a role in the prevention of and treatment for asthma and allergic conditions.
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See also VitaminDWiki

• Overview Asthma and Vitamin D
• All items in Breathing and Vitamin D 446 items
• Hypothesis adolescent allergies associated with low vitamin D levels
• Acute lower respiratory infection 5X more frequent with low vitamin D intake – June 2012
• 100 % of Acute Respiratory Failure patients had low vitamin D - April 2012
• Just 300 IU daily of vitamin D reduced respiratory infections by 50% – RCT Aug 2012
• Respiratory infections reduced by 63 % with 4000 IU vitamin D daily - RCT Dec 2012