Can supplementation with vitamin D reduce the risk or modify the course of autoimmune diseases? A systematic review of the literature.

What It Covers

This systematic review looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

To evaluate whether vitamin D levels are related to the risk of developing autoimmune diseases and whether supplementation with vitamin D can modify the course of the diseases.

Who the Included Studies Covered

The researchers selected studies on the environmental, genetic and epidemiologic association of vitamin D with autoimmune diseases.

Finally, a systematic review was conducted on 219 articles concerning cross-sectional data on: vitamin D levels and autoimmune diseases; interventional data on vitamin D supplementation in autoimmune diseases; prospective data linking vitamin D level or intake to autoimmune disease risk.

How the Review Was Done

The researchers reviewed the most relevant papers published from January 1973 to October 2011, using Medline and EMBASE and the search terms "vitamin D"; "autoimmune disease"; "autoimmunity"; "rheumatoid arthritis"; "systemic lupus erythematosus"; "scleroderma"; "systemic sclerosis"; "type 1 diabetes"; "multiple sclerosis"; and "undifferentiated connective tissue disease".

Using the strategy described, the researchers identified 1268 articles. 331 articles were eliminated on the basis of the title and another 703 on the basis of the abstract, since they were considered irrelevant for the purposes of the study.

Full-text examination was performed on the remaining 234 studies, and a further 15 studies were excluded from the review, since the results had been confirmed or superseded by more recent research.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Autoimmune Diseases, Dietary Supplements, Environment, Gene-Environment Interaction, Genetic Association Studies, Prevalence and Vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is a systematic review of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Its findings take up roughly 4 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2012 (Autoimmunity reviews), a journal based in Netherlands.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.