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Expression of CYP24A1 and other multiple sclerosis risk genes in peripheral blood indicates response to vitamin D in homeostatic and inflammatory conditionsAlthough genetic and epidemiological evidence indicates vitamin D insufficiency contributes to multiple sclerosis (MS), and serum levels of vitamin D increase on treatment with cholecalciferol, recent metanalyses indicate that this vitamin D form does not ameliorate disease. Genetic variation in genes regulating vitamin D, and regulated by vitamin D, affect MS risk.
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Developing an Online Tool to Promote Safe Sun Behaviors With Young Teenagers as Co-researchersDespite education about the risks of excessive sun exposure, teenagers in Australia are sun-seeking, with sunburn common in summer. Conversely, some regular (time-limited) exposure to sunlight (that avoids sunburn) is necessary for vitamin D and healthy bones and other molecules important for immune and metabolic health. New interventions are thus required to better support teenagers to make healthy and balanced decisions about their sun behaviors.
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UVB phototherapy for participants with an early form of multiple sclerosisMatt Prue Stephanie Cooper Hart Trend BCA Marketing, BSc Statistics and Applied Statistics, PhD BSc (Hons) MSc PhD BSc PhD Manager, Biostatistics
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UVR exposure, Vitamin D and type 1 diabetesLiz Prue Davis Hart MBBS FRACP PhD BSc (Hons) MSc PhD Co-director of Children’s Diabetes Centre Honorary Research Fellow prue.hart@thekids.org.au
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Directing immune development to curb sky-rocketing diseaseOnce upon a time it was infectious diseases like polio, measles or tuberculosis that most worried parents. With these threats now largely under control, parents face a new challenge – sky-rocketing rates of non-infectious diseases such as asthma, allergies and autism.
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UV offers new hope in fight against MSPeople at risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) have been offered a beacon of hope thanks to research into UV exposure.
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Vitamin D deficiency linked to childhood asthmaResearchers at The Kids Research Institute Australia have found children with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to develop asthma.
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Metabolic dysfunction induced by a high-fat diet modulates hematopoietic stem and myeloid progenitor cells in brown adipose tissue of miceBrown 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.
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Low maternal serum vitamin D during pregnancy and the risk for postpartum depression symptomsPregnancy is a time of vulnerability for vitamin D insufficiency, and there is an emerging literature associating low levels of 25(OH)-vitamin D with...
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Immune cell trafficking from the brain maintains CNS immune toleranceEvaluation of fluorescently labeled leukocyte migration in mice revealed that DCs travel via the RMS from the CNS to the cervical LNs (CxLNs), where they...