summary: A recent study found that vitamin D deficiency in childhood accelerates the aging of the thymus gland, an organ important for training immune cells. As the thymus ages, it becomes less able to filter out cells that might accidentally attack your own body tissues, increasing your risk of autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes.
This study highlights the importance of ensuring children get enough vitamin D, especially during the ‘winter’ period when sunlight does not provide enough vitamin D. This finding could inform new strategies to prevent autoimmune conditions by focusing on early vitamin D intake.
important facts:
- Vitamin D deficiency in childhood accelerates thymic aging and increases autoimmune risk.
- As the thymus ages, the immune system becomes “leaky” and more susceptible to disease.
- Vitamin D supplementation is essential for immune health, especially during the winter months.
sauce: mcgill university
As Canadians prepare for a “vitamin D winter” (months when the sun’s angle is too low for the skin to produce the vitamin), a McGill University study shows why vitamin D deficiency early in life can lead to autoimmune diseases. Explains whether it is associated with increased risk.
During childhood, the thymus gland helps train immune cells to distinguish between the body’s own tissues and harmful invaders. Researchers found that a lack of vitamin D at that stage of life causes the thymus to age more quickly.
The research will be published in a journal scientific progress.
“Aging of the thymus causes a ‘leakage’ of the immune system,” said lead author John White, professor and chair of the Department of Physiology at McGill University.
“This means the thymus becomes less effective at filtering out immune cells that can mistakenly attack healthy tissue, increasing the risk of autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes.”
Researchers have known for years that vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and build strong bones, he said, and more recent studies have discovered vitamin D’s important role in regulating the immune system. said that it was done.
“Our findings shed new light on this association and may lead to new strategies to prevent autoimmune diseases,” he said.
White added that although the study was conducted in mice, the thymus function in both species is similar, so the findings are relevant to human health.
The importance of solar alternatives
The findings of this study highlight the importance of adequate vitamin D intake, especially for children.
“Supplements are important in places like Montreal, where sunlight stops producing vitamins from late fall to early spring,” says White.
“If you have young children, it’s important to talk to your health care provider to make sure they’re getting enough.”
This breakthrough was based on a 2001 Finnish study that followed more than 10,000 children. The results showed that children who were supplemented with vitamin D early in life had up to a fifth lower risk of developing type 1 diabetes later in life.
White said Finland’s long vitamin D winter made it an ideal case study to learn more about vitamin D’s many roles.
In McGill’s study, researchers used mice that cannot produce vitamin D to examine how vitamin D deficiency affects the thymus gland, and used cell analysis and gene sequencing to determine whether vitamin D deficiency can cause immunity. We investigated how it would affect the system.
In future research, White hopes to examine how vitamin D affects the human thymus gland, something he notes has not been done before.
About this neurological research news
author: Kayla DePape
sauce: mcgill university
contact: Keila DePape – McGill University
image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access.
“Biased epithelial cell differentiation and premature thymic aging due to lack of vitamin D signalingWritten by Patricio Artusa et al. scientific progress
abstract
Biased epithelial cell differentiation and premature thymic aging due to lack of vitamin D signaling
Central tolerance of thymocytes to self-antigens is dependent on the thymic medullary epithelial cell (mTEC) transcription factor autoimmune regulator (Aire), which drives tissue-restricted antigen (TRA) gene expression.
Vitamin D signaling regulates Aire and TRA expression in mTECs and provides the basis for the association between vitamin D deficiency and autoimmunity. We found that mice deficient in Cyp27b1, which cannot produce the hormonally active form of vitamin D, exhibit significantly reduced thymic cellularity and a reduced proportion of Aire.+ mTEC, attenuated TRA expression, and poorly defined cortex-medulla border.
Markers of T cell negative selection are reduced and organ-specific autoantibodies are present in knockout (KO) mice. Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals that deletion of Cyp27b1 biases mTEC differentiation toward Ccl21+ Detect typical TEC and generate gene expression profiles consistent with premature aging. KO thymus promotes involution and reduces expression of thymic longevity factors.
Therefore, loss of thymic vitamin D signaling disrupts normal mTEC differentiation and function and promotes thymic aging.
