Vitamin D Deficiency in the Gulf Cooperation Council: Exploring the Triad of Genetic Predisposition, the Gut Microbiome and the Immune System.

What It Covers

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in the context of immune system (general) in this review publication.

Vitamin D is a fat soluble secosteroid that is primarily synthesized in the skin upon exposure to Ultraviolet B (UVB) sun rays.

Despite the endless supply of sunlight in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries which includes United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, Vitamin D deficiency in the (GCC) general population at various age groups remains alarmingly high.

What Was Measured

The exact association between Vitamin D deficiency and chronic disease conditions remains unclear; however, studies have focused on the mechanism of Vitamin D regulation by assessing the role of the Vitamin D associated genes/proteins such as VDR (Vitamin D receptor), VDBP (Vitamin D Binding protein), CYP27B1 as these are integral parts of the Vitamin D signaling pathway.

VDR is known to regulate the expression of more than 200 genes across a wide array of tissues in the human body and may play a role in controlling the Vitamin D levels.

PubMed files the paper under topics including 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 1-alpha-Hydroxylase, Chronic Disease, Dysbiosis, Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Middle East and Receptors, Calcitriol.

Author keywords: CYP27B1, GCC, VDBP, VDR, hypovitaminosis D and microbial dysbiosis.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is a review of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in people with immune system (general).

The publication is from 2019 (Frontiers in immunology), a journal based in Switzerland.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, Immune system (general) research.