Asthma is a health problem that affects your breathing. Some people who have asthma are also allergic to certain things. This can make their asthma worse.
We know that not having enough of a vitamin called D3 can make asthma symptoms more severe.
But scientists are still figuring out how this vitamin changes the body’s reaction to inflammation.
The Discovery of Vitamin D3’s Role
A group of scientists from the Department of Molecular Pneumology at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen made an exciting discovery.
They were the first to show how taking vitamin D3 changes the way our bodies react to inflammation in allergic asthma.
This change can lessen asthma symptoms. They published their research in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: Global.
How the Study was Conducted
Janina Grund, a Ph.D. student, worked with a team led by Prof. Dr. Susetta Finotto. They studied asthma in young children and adults.
They looked at the levels of a different vitamin, B3, in their blood and whether they were taking vitamin D3 supplements.
The researchers found that children and adults who took vitamin D3 had less severe asthma symptoms. They also needed fewer steroids, which are often used to treat asthma.
The scientists found more of a protein called blimp-1 in the blood cells of people with more vitamin D3. This protein helps control the response of a type of cell called T helper cells.
The Impact of Vitamin D3 on the Immune System
Janina Grund wanted to better understand how this works. So she studied the effect of vitamin D3 on the immune response in mice. The vitamin also made asthma less severe in the mice.
She found fewer allergy-causing antibodies (IgE) that cause allergic diseases like hay fever, asthma, or eczema.
When the mice were given more vitamin D3, their immune system even started to fight inflammation. This was thanks to a messenger substance called IL-10 and cells that create blimp-1.
An Interesting Discovery
The team made an interesting discovery. For the first time, they showed that the vitamin affects long-lived memory T cells. These cells are crucial for a long-term immune response in asthma.
The Conclusion of the Research
The team concluded that taking vitamin D3 supplements can help people with asthma. This highlights the importance of having enough of this vitamin.
This research is still in the early stages, so it’s hard to make specific treatment recommendations yet.
If patients have any questions, they should reach out to their doctor. This discovery is a positive step towards understanding and managing asthma better.
If you care about asthma, please read studies about why some people with asthma respond poorly to treatment, and this asthma drug may help reduce COVID-19.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about how to reverse high blood pressure in the lungs, and results showing this herbal supplement may help treat lung cancer.
The study was published in Global.
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