Vitamin D critical to fighting infections

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, March 8 (UPI) -- University of Copenhagen researchers report vitamin D is crucial to activating immune defenses to fight off serious infections in the body.

Carsten Geisler said when specialized immune cells -- T cells -- are exposed to a foreign pathogen, it extends a signaling device or "antenna" known as a vitamin D receptor, with which it searches for vitamin D.

"T cell must have vitamin D or activation of the cell will cease," Geisler said in a statement. "If the T cells cannot find enough vitamin D in the blood, they won't even begin to mobilize."

Identifying the role of vitamin D in the activation of T cells has been a major breakthrough, the research team said.

"Scientists have known for a long time that vitamin D is important for calcium absorption and the vitamin has also been implicated in diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, but what we didn't realize is how crucial vitamin D is for actually activating the immune system -- which we know now," Geisler said.

Vitamin D is produced as a natural byproduct of the skin's exposure to sunlight and is also found in fish liver oil, eggs and fatty fish such as salmon, herring and mackerel or a dietary supplement.

The findings are published in Nature Immunology.