Vitamin D and bronchial asthma

Abstract

Due to its imunomodulatory properties, vitamin D has a potentially growing role in chronic diseases: malignant, cardiovascular, autoimmune and chronic lung diseases. Asthma is chronic inflammatory disease of airways. Prevalence of asthma and prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency is constantly rising in past decades. According to the numerous study results we can hypothesize that vitamin D insufficiency can be important contributor to pathogenesis, stage, disease control and therapeutic response in asthma. Vitamin D has antimicrobial properties as well, because of its influence on catelicidin, human peptide produced by neutrophils, macrophages, skin, respiratory an digestive tract cells with wide antimicrobial activity (Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, some viruses and fungus) (18). Recent studies provide growing evidence in favor of vitamin D supplementation in asthma.