Researchers have demonstrated that vitamin D promotes the growth of intestinal bacteria in mice and increases immunity against cancer. Research results suggest that a vitamin D-rich diet and genetic enhancement of vitamin D availability may enhance the immune response to cancer and the effectiveness of immunotherapy, but the intestinal The exact mechanisms involving the microbiome are still unclear. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
New research links vitamin D to improved cancer immunity in mice by strengthening certain gut bacteria.
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Aalborg University in Denmark have found that vitamin D promotes the growth of a type of intestinal bacteria in mice and improves their immunity against cancer.
This was reported in today’s (April 25th) article. scienceResearchers found that mice fed a diet rich in vitamin D had improved immune resistance to experimentally transplanted cancers and improved response to immunotherapy treatment. This effect was also seen when gene editing removed a protein that binds to vitamin D in the blood and keeps it away from tissues.
Mechanism of vitamin D in cancer immunity
Surprisingly, the research team discovered that vitamin D acts on epithelial cells in the intestines, resulting in an increase in the amount of bacteria called. Bacteroides fragilis. The microbe gave the mice better immunity against cancer because the transplanted tumors didn’t grow as much, but researchers still don’t understand how.
To test whether bacteria alone could provide better cancer immunity, mice fed a regular diet were tested. Bacteroides fragilis. These mice were also better able to resist tumor growth, but not when fed a vitamin D-deficient diet.
Vitamin D, cancer risk, and immune response
Previous studies have suggested a link between vitamin D deficiency and cancer risk in humans, but the evidence is not conclusive.
To investigate this, researchers analyzed a dataset from 1.5 million people in Denmark.[1] This highlighted the association between decreased vitamin D levels and increased cancer risk. Another analysis of cancer patient populations also found that people with higher vitamin D levels[2] They were more likely to respond well to immune-based cancer treatments.
nevertheless Bacteroides fragilis Vitamin D is also found in the human microbiome, but further research is needed to understand whether vitamin D helps confer immune resistance to cancer through the same mechanism.
Researcher insights and future directions
Caetano Reis e Sousa, director of Crick University’s Institute of Immunobiology and lead author, said: For cancer.
“While this may one day be important for human cancer treatment, we do not know how and why vitamin D exerts this effect through the microbiome. Further research is needed before we can conclusively say that improvements are effective in preventing or treating cancer.”
Evangelos Giampazourias, former postdoctoral fellow at Crick University and currently group leader of the Cancer Immune Surveillance Group at Cancer Research UK’s Manchester Research Institute, said: We found that vitamin D helps gut bacteria induce cancer immunity and improves response to immunotherapy in mice.
“The key question we are currently trying to answer is how exactly vitamin D supports a ‘good’ microbiome. Answering this could reveal new ways in which the microbiome influences the immune system, offering exciting possibilities in cancer prevention and treatment. ”
“These findings raise the bar on the role of the microbiome in cancer immunity and how we can fine-tune this relationship to improve patient outcomes,” said Romina Goldschmid, Stadtmann Research Fellow in the NCI Cancer Research Center. “We contribute to the growing body of knowledge regarding potential dietary interventions.” However, further research is needed to fully understand the underlying mechanisms and how they can be exploited to develop individualized treatment strategies. ”
This research was supported by Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, an ERC Advanced Investigator grant, a Wellcome Investigator Award, an award from the Louis-Jeantet Foundation, the NCI Intramural Research Programme, the National Institute for Health Research, CCR-NCI, Danish National Research Foundation.
Dr Nisharnthi Duggan, Research Information Manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “We know that vitamin D deficiency can cause health problems, but there is not enough evidence linking vitamin D levels to cancer risk. This early-stage study in mice Combined with analysis of population data, we aim to address gaps in the evidence.The findings suggest a possible link between vitamin D and the immune response to cancer. Further research is needed to confirm this.
‘Exposure to a little sunlight can help our bodies produce vitamin D, but we don’t need sunbathing to accelerate this process. Just spending short periods of time in the sun can produce enough vitamin D. Vitamin D can also be obtained through diet and supplements, and we know that staying safe in the sun can reduce your risk of cancer. Therefore, be sure to seek shade, cover up, and wear sunscreen when the sun is strong.
Note
- The advantages of using the Danish cohort were a similar ancestry (approximately 86% Danish) and a “vitamin D winter” due to Denmark’s northern latitude. This means that the rate at which vitamin D is synthesized by sunlight on the skin is reduced.
- Higher vitamin D levels were indirectly inferred from the “vitamin D gene signature,” which is a combination of vitamin D-related activities in the body. This was used because there are multiple types of vitamin D and measurement can be arbitrary. error. Patients with better genetic signatures had better responses to immune checkpoint therapy.
Reference: “Vitamin D modulates microbiome-dependent cancer immunity,” Giampazolias, E. et al., April 25, 2024. science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adh7954
