Vitamin D and gastrointestinal diseases: inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer

• Main Authors: Maitreyi Raman, Andrew N. Milestone, Julian R.F. Walters, Ailsa L. Hart, Subrata Ghosh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2011-01-01
• Series: Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/1756283X10377820

Over the past 5 years, there has been a rapid resurgence of interest in vitamin D outside of its traditional role in metabolic bone disease. Some nontraditional roles ascribed to vitamin D include anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects. These effects have led to possible implications in the pathophysiology of immune-mediated diseases including multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In addition, vitamin D insufficiency has been linked to higher rates of cancers including colon, prostate and breast cancers. Given these diverse associations of vitamin D and disease states, this review describes recent advances with regard to vitamin D and gastrointestinal diseases, in particular IBD and colorectal cancer.