Vitamin D in Intestinal Health and Diseases

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Pathology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 491

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
College of Veterinary Medicine, Long Island University, New York, NY, USA
Interests: vitamin D; regulatory T cells; intestinal stem cells; inflammatory bowel disease

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Previous research has emerged to support the role of vitamin D in various parts of the intestines, including microbiota, epithelial barrier, and immune cells. In addition, dysbiosis (disorder in microbiota) has been linked to multiple extraintestinal diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Therefore, understanding how vitamin D regulates the functions of microbiota, epithelial barrier, and immune cells in the intestines will help design therapies for intestinal diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer, and extraintestinal diseases.

This special issue aims to improve our understanding of vitamin D’s functions in microbiota, epithelial barrier, and immune cells in the intestines. Specifically, we will publish high-quality reviews or original research articles that examine vitamin D’s role in the above three parts of the intestines in animals and humans.

Dr. Xiaolei Tang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • vitamin D
  • intestines
  • microbiota
  • epithelial barrier
  • immune cells

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 5355 KiB  
Article
1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D Enhances the Regenerative Function of Lgr5+ Intestinal Stem Cells In Vitro and In Vivo
by Nisar Ali Shaikh, Chenfan Liu, Yue Yin, David J. Baylink and Xiaolei Tang
Cells 2024, 13(17), 1465; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13171465 (registering DOI) - 31 Aug 2024
Viewed by 264
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder in the intestines without a cure. Current therapies suppress inflammation to prevent further intestinal damage. However, healing already damaged intestinal epithelia is still an unmet medical need. Under physiological conditions, Lgr5+ intestinal stem [...] Read more.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder in the intestines without a cure. Current therapies suppress inflammation to prevent further intestinal damage. However, healing already damaged intestinal epithelia is still an unmet medical need. Under physiological conditions, Lgr5+ intestinal stem cells (ISCs) in the intestinal crypts replenish the epithelia every 3–5 days. Therefore, understanding the regulation of Lgr5+ ISCs is essential. Previous data suggest vitamin D signaling is essential to maintain normal Lgr5+ ISC function in vivo. Our recent data indicate that to execute its functions in the intestines optimally, 1,25(OH)2D requires high concentrations that, if present systemically, can cause hypercalcemia (i.e., blood calcium levels significantly higher than physiological levels), leading to severe consequences. Using 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) to label the actively proliferating ISCs, our previous data suggested that de novo synthesized locally high 1,25(OH)2D concentrations effectively enhanced the migration and differentiation of ISCs without causing hypercalcemia. However, although sparse in the crypts, other proliferating cells other than Lgr5+ ISCs could also be labeled with BrdU. This current study used high-purity Lgr5+ ISC lines and a mouse strain, in which Lgr5+ ISCs and their progeny could be specifically tracked, to investigate the effects of de novo synthesized locally high 1,25(OH)2D concentrations on Lgr5+ ISC function. Our data showed that 1,25(OH)2D at concentrations significantly higher than physiological levels augmented Lgr5+ ISC differentiation in vitro. In vivo, de novo synthesized locally high 1,25(OH)2D concentrations significantly elevated local 1α-hydroxylase expression, robustly suppressed experimental colitis, and promoted Lgr5+ ISC differentiation. For the first time, this study definitively demonstrated 1,25(OH)2D’s role in Lgr5+ ISCs, underpinning 1,25(OH)2D’s promise in IBD therapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vitamin D in Intestinal Health and Diseases)
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