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Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents and young adults

Associations between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and cardiometabolic risk factors from adolescence to young adulthood in the Raine Study

Research

Low maternal serum vitamin D during pregnancy and the risk for postpartum depression symptoms

Pregnancy is a time of vulnerability for vitamin D insufficiency, and there is an emerging literature associating low levels of 25(OH)-vitamin D with...

Research

House dust mite induced lung inflammation does not alter circulating vitamin D levels

We hypothesized that allergic inflammation decreases the level of circulating 25(OH)D and tested this using a mice model of house dust mite (HDM) induced...

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UV exposure and protection against allergic airways disease

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the small and large conducting airway mucosa characterised by Th2 cell immunity.

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Circulating Memory B Cells in Early Multiple Sclerosis Exhibit Increased IgA+ Cells, Globally Decreased BAFF-R Expression and an EBV-Related IgM+ Cell Signature

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that results in demyelination of axons, inefficient signal transmission and reduced muscular mobility. Recent findings suggest that B cells play a significant role in disease development and pathology. To further explore this, B cell profiles in peripheral blood from 28 treatment-naive patients with early MS were assessed using flow cytometry and compared to 17 healthy controls.

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Vitamin D supplementation of initially vitamin D-deficient mice diminishes lung inflammation with limited effects on pulmonary epithelial integrity

In disease settings, vitamin D may be important for maintaining optimal lung epithelial integrity and suppressing inflammation, but less is known of its effects prior to disease onset.

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Time spent outdoors through childhood and adolescence - assessed by 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration - and risk of myopia at 20 years

To investigate the relationship between time spent outdoors, at particular ages in childhood and adolescence, and myopia status in young adulthood using serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration as a biomarker of time spent outdoors. Participants of the Raine Study Generation 2 cohort had 25(OH)D concentrations measured at the 6-, 14-, 17- and 20-year follow-ups. Participants underwent cycloplegic autorefraction at age 20 years, and myopia was defined as a mean spherical equivalent -0.50 dioptres or more myopic. Logistic regression was used to analyse the association between risk of myopia at age 20 years and age-specific 25(OH)D concentrations. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyse trajectory of 25(OH)D concentrations from 6 to 20 years.

Research

Altered immunity and dendritic cell activity in the periphery of mice after long-term engraftment with bone marrow from ultraviolet-irradiated mice

To investigate the immune capabilities of peripheral tissue DCs generated in vivo from the BM of UV-irradiated mice, chimeric mice were established.

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Virus infection and allergy in the development of asthma: What is the connection?

Information is accumulating which implicates airway inflammation resulting from respiratory viral infections, acting against a background of atopy.

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Metabolic dysfunction induced by a high-fat diet modulates hematopoietic stem and myeloid progenitor cells in brown adipose tissue of mice

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) may be an important metabolic regulator of whole-body glucose. While important roles have been ascribed to macrophages in regulating metabolic functions in BAT, little is known of the roles of other immune cells subsets, particularly dendritic cells (DCs). Eating a high-fat diet may compromise the development of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs)-which give rise to DCs-in bone marrow, with less known of its effects in BAT. We have previously demonstrated that ongoing exposure to low-dose ultraviolet radiation (UVR) significantly reduced the 'whitening' effect of eating a high-fat diet upon interscapular (i) BAT of mice.