The role of vitamin D on circulating memory T cells in children: The Generation R study.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this observational study publication.

Because most of the T-cell memory is formed in the first 5 years of life, the researchers aimed to determine the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and numbers of circulatory naive, central memory (Tcm), and effector memory (Tem) T lymphocytes in a large population of healthy children.

Multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to determine the association between 25(OH)D and the maturation of T lymphocytes in children adjusted for cord blood 25(OH)D levels, herpes seropositivity, sociodemographic and lifestyle confounders.

Furthermore, multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to determine associations between 25(OH)D and childhood infections.

Why It Was Studied

However, no studies in children have been performed on this topic.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 3189 children were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as children, both men and women.

Detailed lymphocyte subsets were available in 986 children.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Biomarkers, Immunity, Cellular, Immunophenotyping, Infections, Linear Models, Logistic Models and T-Lymphocyte Subsets.

The authors tagged it with the keywords T lymphocytes, adaptive immune system, calcitriol, child and vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is an observational study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 3189 children.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

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 2017 (Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology), a journal based in England.

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