Role of Vitamin D in Various Illnesses: A Review

Abstract

Vitamin D, a fat-soluble vitamin, concentrations need to be maintained for functioning of the metabolic, immune, reproductive, muscular, skeletal, respiratory and cutaneous systems of men and women of all ages. A rough estimate indicates that about 1 billion people globally are vitamin D deficient. The physiological functions of active vitamin D (calcitriol) are related to calcium homeostasis and osteoporosis, with possible roles in diabetes, cancer, ischemic heart disease, and autoimmune and infectious diseases. Vitamin D deficit increases the risk of malignancies, particularly of colon, breast and prostate gland, of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases (e.g. insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis), as well as of metabolic disorders (metabolic syndrome, hypertension). The eight disorders discussed in this review are heart disease, bone disorder, colorectal cancer and other malignancies, infectious, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and type-I diabetes mellitus. There is a strong evidence for association between heart diseases, bone disorders, colorectal cancers, infectious, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, multiple sclerosis, diabetes mellitus type-I and vitamin D. the extent of vitamin D deficiency’s contribution in the development of osteoporosis, breast cancer, rheumatoid arthritis is unclear.