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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.
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.
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.
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.
At the end of a 60-day course of narrowband UVB phototherapy, administered to individuals with early multiple sclerosis, there were changes in the relative proportions of circulating B-cell subsets. This study investigated phototherapy-associated changes to cytokine responses of B cells when exposed to a TLR7 ligand.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that results in demyelination of axons, inefficient signal transmission and reduced muscular mobility. Recent findings suggest that B cells play a significant role in disease development and pathology. To further explore this, B cell profiles in peripheral blood from 28 treatment-naive patients with early MS were assessed using flow cytometry and compared to 17 healthy controls.
The immunological mechanisms that contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS) differ between males and females. Females are 2-3 times more likely to develop MS compared to males, however the reason for this discrepancy is unknown. Once MS is established, there is a more inflammatory yet milder form of disease in females whereas males generally suffer from more severe disease and faster progression, neural degradation, and disability.
To determine whether serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels are suppressed in patients with the clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) following narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy (UVB-PT).
This study aimed to describe the vitamin D status of pregnant women in Western Australia and identify predictors of deficiency in pregnancy. A cross-sectional study was conducted using linked data from statewide administrative data collections.
High risk for virus-induced asthma exacerbations in children is associated with an IRF7lo immunophenotype, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we applied a Systems Biology approach to an animal model comprising rat strains manifesting high versus low susceptibility to experimental asthma, induced by virus/allergen coexposure, to elucidate the mechanism(s)-of-action of the high-risk asthma immunophenotype.