Vitamin D axis and its role in skin carcinogenesis: a comprehensive review

Applied Cancer Research

Table 2 Vitamin D associated functions

Function	Effect	Reference
Metabolism	• Calcium Homeostasis • Anabolic effect in muscle metabolism • VD deficiency associated with obesity and type II Diabetes mellitus	[16] [5, 16, 18] [5, 18]
Immunologic	Effect on T lymphocytes: • stimulation TH2 and T regulatory cells • reduces TH1 and TH17 response Effect on B lymphocytes: • inhibits proliferation, maturation and immunoglobulin production Effect on cytokines: • increases IL-10 • decreases IL-17, IL-21 • stimulates cathelicidin and in β-defensin in macrophages Inhibits Dendritic cell maturation	[9, 18, 25, 26] [18, 24] [9, 23] [27, 28]
Infections	Low VD level is associated with tuberculosis, influenza, bacterial vaginosis, HIV,	[18–22]
Autoimune diseases	Low VD level associated with Lupus, asthma, atopic dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, vitiligo and multiple sclerosis	[5, 9]
Cardiovascular disease	VD deficiency associated with hypertension, cardiovascular disease and mortality	[5]
Neuroprotective	VD is present in substantia nigra and hypothalamus VD deficiency associated with Alzheimer’s disease	[13]
Pregnancy	Low VD levels during pregnancy associated with pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and small for gestational age infants.	[5]