Phenotype modifications of T-cells and their shift toward a Th2 response in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus supplemented with different monthly regimens of vitamin D.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in the context of lupus (sle), published as a randomized controlled trial.

Vitamin D receptor is constitutively expressed on the lymphocyte surface.

Recent studies highlight that vitamin D may exert actions on T-cells, inhibiting Th1 and Th17 response and enhancing Th2 and T-regulatory (T-reg) function.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 16 patients taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as young adults, adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

Thirty-four patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were randomly enrolled in a two-year prospective study.

During the second year, patients were switched to the other arm of treatment.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Phenotypic analysis of peripheral T lymphocyte and the quantification of cytokine production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were evaluated by flow cytometry.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Cholecalciferol, Cytokines, Flow Cytometry, Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic, Phenotype and T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory.

The authors tagged it with the keywords T-cells, systemic lupus erythematosus and vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 16 patients in people with lupus (sle).

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 4 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2015 (Lupus), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, Lupus (SLE) research.