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Directing immune development to curb sky-rocketing disease

Once upon a time it was infectious diseases like polio, measles or tuberculosis that most worried parents. With these threats now largely under control, parents face a new challenge – sky-rocketing rates of non-infectious diseases such as asthma, allergies and autism.

Developing an Online Tool to Promote Safe Sun Behaviors With Young Teenagers as Co-researchers

Despite education about the risks of excessive sun exposure, teenagers in Australia are sun-seeking, with sunburn common in summer. Conversely, some regular (time-limited) exposure to sunlight (that avoids sunburn) is necessary for vitamin D and healthy bones and other molecules important for immune and metabolic health. New interventions are thus required to better support teenagers to make healthy and balanced decisions about their sun behaviors.

Higher ultraviolet radiation during early life is associated with lower risk of childhood type 1 diabetes among boys

Population-level ecological studies show type 1 diabetes incidence is inversely correlated with ambient ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels. We conducted a nested case–control study using administrative datasets to test this association at the individual level.

Expression of CYP24A1 and other multiple sclerosis risk genes in peripheral blood indicates response to vitamin D in homeostatic and inflammatory conditions

Although genetic and epidemiological evidence indicates vitamin D insufficiency contributes to multiple sclerosis (MS), and serum levels of vitamin D increase on treatment with cholecalciferol, recent metanalyses indicate that this vitamin D form does not ameliorate disease. Genetic variation in genes regulating vitamin D, and regulated by vitamin D, affect MS risk.

Use of linked administrative and laboratory data to confirm that serum 25(OH)D levels in pregnant women can be predicted from satellite estimates of ultraviolet radiation

Serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels of pregnant women have been linked to various health outcomes in their offspring. Satellite-derived ultraviolet radiation (UVR) data have been used as a proxy for 25(OH)D levels, as individual-level cohort studies are time-consuming, costly and only feasible for common outcomes.

Ultraviolet irradiation of skin alters the faecal microbiome independently of vitamin D in mice

Skin exposure to ultraviolet radiation alters the faecal microbiome, and further investigations to explore the implications of this in health and disease are warranted

Tryptophan and arginine catabolic enzymes and regulatory cytokines in clinically isolated syndrome and multiple sclerosis

Higher IDO and ARG expression in clinically isolated syndrome and multiple sclerosis provides one sustained homeostatic mechanism to control multiple sclerosis-associated inflammation

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of vitamin D in food allergy

Epidemiological evidence from the past decade suggests a role of vitamin D in food allergy pathogenesis

Higher Serum Immunoglobulin G3 Levels May Predict the Development of Multiple Sclerosis in Individuals With Clinically Isolated Syndrome

IgG3 levels and proportions of IgG3 (%IgG) in serum at CIS diagnosis were inversely correlated with the time until conversion to MS

A randomised, controlled clinical trial of narrowband UVB phototherapy for clinically isolated syndrome: The PhoCIS study

This study provides a basis for further studies to determine if there are any benefits of the therapeutic effects of narrowband UVB radiation on MS progression