The role of vitamin D for inflammatory bowel diseases

Abstract

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) most frequently affecting young patients. The aetiopathogenesis of IBD remains unclear. Without understanding the causes of IBD, causal treatment cannot be known and therapy is based on chronic immunosuppresion, which entails considerable side effects and financial costs. Vitamin D is a hormonally active vitamin with strong immunomodulatory effects. The high prevalence of IBD in northern Europe and the USA, genetic association studies and, especially, the results of experimental studies on animals indicate the significant role of VD in the aetiopathogenesis of IBD. Vitamin D supplementation and the saturation of the organism with 25(OH)D3 reserves might represent a novel approach to the treatment of IBD that could be simple, effective, safe and cheap.