Showing posts with label infections and vitaminD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label infections and vitaminD. Show all posts
Vitamin D 'triggers and arms' the immune system

This T cell (blue), one of the immune system’s principle means of defense, identifies the molecular signature of a dendritic cell (green) at a junction between the two called the immunological synapse. If the immunological synapse signals the presence of a foe, the T cell will attack.
Vitamin D is crucial to the fending off of infections, claims new research.
'The so-called sunshine vitamin, which can be obtained from food or manufactured by human skin exposed to the sun, plays a key role in boosting the immune system, researchers believe.
In particular it triggers and arms the body's T cells, the cells in the body that seek out and destroy any invading bacteria and viruses.
Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that Vitamin D is crucial to activating our immune defences and that without sufficient intake of the vitamin, the killer cells of the immune system – T cells – will not be able to react to and fight off serious infections in the body.
For T cells to detect and kill foreign pathogens such as clumps of bacteria or viruses, the cells must first be ‘triggered’ into action and "transform" from inactive and harmless immune cells into killer cells that are primed to seek out and destroy all traces of invaders.
The researchers found that the T cells rely on vitamin D in order activate and they would remain dormant, ‘naïve’ to the possibility of threat if vitamin D is lacking in the blood.'
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