The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Volume 120, Issue 5 , Pages 1031-1035, November 2007

Is vitamin D deficiency to blame for the asthma epidemic?

  • Augusto A. Litonjua, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass
    • Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass
    • Center for Genomic Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass
    • Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: Augusto A. Litonjua, MD, MPH, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.
  • ,
  • Scott T. Weiss, MD, MS

      Affiliations

    • Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass
    • Center for Genomic Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass
    • Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass

Received 23 May 2007; received in revised form 12 August 2007; accepted 15 August 2007. published online 08 October 2007.

In the 1960s, the prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases began to increase worldwide. Currently, the burden of the disease is more than 300 million people affected. We hypothesize that as populations grow more prosperous, more time is spent indoors, and there is less exposure to sunlight, leading to decreased cutaneous vitamin D production. Coupled with inadequate intake from foods and supplements, this then leads to vitamin D deficiency, particularly in pregnant women, resulting in more asthma and allergy in their offspring. Vitamin D has been linked to immune system and lung development in utero, and our epidemiologic studies show that higher vitamin D intake by pregnant mothers reduces asthma risk by as much as 40% in children 3 to 5 years old. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with obesity, African American race (particularly in urban, inner-city settings), and recent immigrants to westernized countries, thus reflecting the epidemiologic patterns observed in the asthma epidemic. Providing adequate vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy may lead to significant decreases in asthma incidence in young children.

Key words: Asthma, allergy, vitamin D, prevention

Abbreviations used: 25(OH)D, 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3, VDR, Vitamin D receptor, Treg, T-regulatory

 

 Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: S. T. Weiss has consulting arrangements with Roche Pharmaceuticals, Glaxo Wellcome, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Genentech, Schering-Plough, Variagenics, Genome Therapeutics, and Merck Frost and has received grant support from Glaxo Wellcome, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer. A. A. Litonjua has declared that he has no conflict of interest.

PII: S0091-6749(07)01600-4

doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2007.08.028

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Volume 120, Issue 5 , Pages 1031-1035, November 2007