Abstract

RIBEIRO, Carmelita; TAVARES, Beatriz  and  LUIS, António Segorbe. Vitamin D and bronchial asthma. Rev Port Imunoalergologia [online]. 2013, vol.21, n.2, pp.81-89. ISSN 0871-9721.

Vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as pandemic and with multifactorial causes. A growing number of studies on the adverse effects of vitamin D deficiency and its association with various pathologies, including bronchial asthma, has emerged. There are few studies that have evaluated the direct role of vitamin D in asthma, but there is increasing evidence that indirectly relates this vitamin with disease mechanisms. Many studies to date have attributed a role to vitamin D in asthma through many possible multifaceted interventions in the disease mechanisms. Thus, it is now acknowledged that vitamin D: Is involved in fetal lung growth and maturation; Higher prenatal intakes have a protective role against wheezing in small children; Normal serum levels reduce episodes of wheezing through its role in regulation of antimicrobial proteins or through its multiple immune effects; The presence of lower levels is associated with increased risk of asthma exacerbations; May have a therapeutic effect in patients with asthma resistant to corticosteroids

Keywords : Bronchial asthma; vitamin D.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )