Immune Modulatory Effects of Vitamin D on Viral Infections

Siddiqui, Maheen; Manansala, Judhell S.; Abdulrahman, Hana A.; Nasrallah, Gheyath K.; Smatti, Maria K.; Younes, Nadin; Althani, Asmaa A.; Yassine, Hadi M.

doi:10.3390/nu12092879

Open AccessReview

Immune Modulatory Effects of Vitamin D on Viral Infections

by

Maheen Siddiqui

^1,†,

Judhell S. Manansala

^1,†,

Hana A. Abdulrahman

²,

Gheyath K. Nasrallah

^1,2

,

Maria K. Smatti

²

,

Nadin Younes

^1,2,

Asmaa A. Althani

^1,2 and

Hadi M. Yassine

^1,2,*

¹

College of Health Science-QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar

²

Biomedical Research Center, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to the work.

Nutrients 2020, 12(9), 2879; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092879

Submission received: 15 July 2020 / Revised: 29 August 2020 / Accepted: 31 August 2020 / Published: 21 September 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diet, Inflammation, and Infectious Diseases)

Download

Browse Figure

Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

Viral infections have been a cause of mortality for several centuries and continue to endanger the lives of many, specifically of the younger population. Vitamin D has long been recognized as a crucial element to the skeletal system in the human body. Recent evidence has indicated that vitamin D also plays an essential role in the immune response against viral infections and suggested that vitamin D deficiency increases susceptibility to viral infections as well as the risk of recurrent infections. For instance, low serum vitamin D levels were linked to increased occurrence of high burdens viral diseases such as hepatitis, influenza, Covid-19, and AIDS. As immune cells in infected patients are responsive to the ameliorative effects of vitamin D, the beneficial effects of supplementing vitamin D-deficient individuals with an infectious disease may extend beyond the impact on bone and calcium homeostasis. Even though numerous studies have highlighted the effect of vitamin D on the immune cells, vitamin D’s antiviral mechanism has not been fully established. This paper reviews the recent mechanisms by which vitamin D regulates the immune system, both innate and adaptive systems, and reflects on the link between serum vitamin D levels and viral infections.

Keywords: vitamin D; deficiency; hepatitis; Influenza; Covid-19; AIDS

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Siddiqui, M.; Manansala, J.S.; Abdulrahman, H.A.; Nasrallah, G.K.; Smatti, M.K.; Younes, N.; Althani, A.A.; Yassine, H.M. Immune Modulatory Effects of Vitamin D on Viral Infections. Nutrients 2020, 12, 2879. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092879

AMA Style

Siddiqui M, Manansala JS, Abdulrahman HA, Nasrallah GK, Smatti MK, Younes N, Althani AA, Yassine HM. Immune Modulatory Effects of Vitamin D on Viral Infections. Nutrients. 2020; 12(9):2879. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092879

Chicago/Turabian Style

Siddiqui, Maheen, Judhell S. Manansala, Hana A. Abdulrahman, Gheyath K. Nasrallah, Maria K. Smatti, Nadin Younes, Asmaa A. Althani, and Hadi M. Yassine. 2020. "Immune Modulatory Effects of Vitamin D on Viral Infections" Nutrients 12, no. 9: 2879. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092879

APA Style

Siddiqui, M., Manansala, J. S., Abdulrahman, H. A., Nasrallah, G. K., Smatti, M. K., Younes, N., Althani, A. A., & Yassine, H. M. (2020). Immune Modulatory Effects of Vitamin D on Viral Infections. Nutrients, 12(9), 2879. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092879

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Immune Modulatory Effects of Vitamin D on Viral Infections

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI