Increased vitamin D levels at birth and in early infancy increase offspring allergy risk—evidence for involvement of epigenetic mechanisms

Although a beneficial effect of vitamin D on health is widely accepted, its role in allergy development has been controversial. Both allergy-preventing and allergy-promoting effects have been reported. Thus, a deeper mechanistic understanding of how vitamin D is related to the regulation of immune reactivity and allergic inflammation is required. Vitamin D was shown to modify gene expression1 through binding of the vitamin D receptor to vitamin D response elements. However, only 26% of the genes identified as regulated by vitamin D have a vitamin D response element in proximity to their transcription start site (TSS),1 indicating that additional mechanisms are involved in the transcriptional control by vitamin D.