Endocrine Abstracts

The hormonally active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D) acting via the vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a potent transcriptional regulator, with effects on skeletal and extra-skeletal physiology. We have shown previously that skeletal responses to 1,25D also involve regulation of microRNAs (miRNAs); small non-coding RNAs with an emerging role in epigenetics. To assess the role of miRNAs in innate immune responses to 1,25D we utilised in v...

The hormonally active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D) acting via the vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a potent transcriptional regulator, with effects on skeletal and extra-skeletal physiology. We have shown previously that skeletal responses to 1,25D also involve regulation of microRNAs (miRNAs); small non-coding RNAs with an emerging role in epigenetics. To assess the role of miRNAs in innate immune responses to 1,25D we utilised in v...

The active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D), acting via the vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a potent regulator of gene expression, with effects on skeletal and extra-skeletal physiology. We have shown that actions of 1,25D on bone-forming osteoblasts also involve regulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) that play a key role in the functional development of these cells. In the current study, we have investigated miRNAs as mediators of innate and adaptive immune responses ...

Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in pregnant women and associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, including pre-eclampsia. Active vitamin-D (1,25(OH)2D3) exerts important non-classical immune-regulatory effects, and the maternal placenta (decidua) appears a key target. Uterine natural killer cells (uNKs) are the most prominent decidual immune cell during early pregnancy. Given their critical role in fetal implantation and placentation, we hypothesised uNKs are a local source...

Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in pregnant women and associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, including pre-eclampsia. Active vitamin-D (1,25(OH)2D3) exerts important non-classical immune-regulatory effects, and the maternal placenta (decidua) appears a key target. Uterine natural killer cells (uNKs) are the most prominent decidual immune cell during early pregnancy. Given their critical role in fetal implantation and placentation, we hypothesised uNKs are a local source...

Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in pregnant women. Active vitamin D (1,25(OH)2D3) exerts important non-classical immune-regulatory effects, and the maternal placenta (decidua) is a potential target for this. CD56+ -uterine natural killer (uNK) cells are the most prominent cell type in the decidua during early pregnancy. Given their critical role in foetal implantation and placentation, we hypothesised that uNK cells are a pivotal immunomodula...

Vitamin D metabolites such as 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25D) circulate bound primarily to vitamin D binding protein (DBP). However, for most extra-renal tissues 25D uptake is independent of DBP, even though the ‘free’ 25D fraction is very small. DBP has a lower binding affinity for 25D2 compared to 25D3. We hypothesized that this would increase serum free 25D2, with possible variations in vitamin D function. Mice were placed on diets containing equal amounts (1000 IU/kg) ...