Giving babies sunshine vitamin may cut illness risk illness

TAKING vitamin D during pregnancy and in the first few years of life could help reduce the risk of a wide ranges of illness, researchers have revealed, after finding new genetic links between diseases and the compound.

The latest study mapped how the so-called "sunshine vitamin" interacted with human DNA, finding more than 200 genes where it had a direct influence.

The results suggest that taking supplements in early life could help reduce the risk of several illnesses, including multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease and some types of cancer.

It is estimated that one billion people worldwide do not have enough vitamin D, the main source of which comes through exposure to sunlight.

Scotland has some of the highest rates of MS in the world, and this has been linked by some to the lack of sunlight.

Glasgow schoolboy Ryan McLaughlin, whose mother Kirsten has MS, launched a campaign to increase awareness of the importance of vitamin D supplements with a petition at the Scottish Parliament last year.

A poor diet can also lead to vitamin D deficiency, according to the study published in Genome Research.

Previous studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of "autoimmune conditions" such as MS and rheumatoid arthritis.

Now researchers at Oxford University have shown the true extent to which vitamin D interacts with our DNA, potentially making it a factor in a whole host of diseases.

The researchers used new DNA sequencing technology to create a map of vitamin D "receptor binding" across the genome - our complete genetic make-up.

The vitamin D receptor is a protein activated by vitamin D, which attaches itself to DNA and so influences what proteins are made from our genetic code.

The researchers found 2,776 "binding sites" for the vitamin D receptor along the genome.

These were concentrated near genes associated with susceptibility to conditions such as MS, Crohn's disease, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, and to cancers such as chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and colorectal cancer.

They also showed that vitamin D had a significant effect on the activity of 229 genes, including IRF8, previously associated with MS, and PTPN2, associated with Crohn's disease and type 1 diabetes.

Dr Andreas Heger, from the Medical Research Council Functional Genomics Unit at Oxford, said: "Our study shows quite dramatically the wide-ranging influence that vitamin D exerts over our health."

Professor George Ebers, senior researcher on the study, said the evidence for the link between vitamin D and some illnesses, such as MS and Type 1 diabetes, had already been found.But he said before the latest study, the evidence linking vitamin D to lupus and colon cancer had not been so strong.

There could also be other illnesses linked to vitamin D deficiency which are not yet known about.

Dr Sreeram Ramagopalan, from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, said: "There is now evidence supporting a role for vitamin D in susceptibility to a host of diseases.

"Vitamin D supplements during pregnancy and the early years could have a beneficial effect on a child's health in later life.

"Some countries such as France have instituted this as a routine public health measure."