Can Vitamin D Prevent Skin Infections and Eczema?

A recent study, led by Richard Gallo, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Dermatology, at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine is showing that taking Vitamin D supplements may bolster the production of a protective chemical substance, naturally found in the skin, and may prevent certain skin infections and certain common form of eczema. Their findings were published online on the prestigious medicall journal the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology. According to tis study, using vitamin D seemed to correct a defect in the immune systems in patients with this skin disease.

Scientists and researchers enrolled a small number of patients with atopic dermatitis, a chronic skin disease that affects 10 - 20 % of children and one to three percent of adults. Severe itching, redness and scaling are typicl in patients with atopic dermatitis. Chronic changes may occur as a result of constant scratching and rubbing. atopic dermatitis increases the patient's risk for skin infections such as Staph aureus, herpes, and small pox viruses. A defect in the immune system interfere with the skin's ability to produce a peptide called cathelicidin, which is protective against microbial invasion. In many skin diseases, including eczema, a deficiency of cathelicidin correlates with increased infection.

In this study, participants were all given 4000 IUs of oral Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) per day for 21 days. Skin lesions were biopsied before and after the 21-day period. The researchers found that oral vitamin D use by the patients appeared to correct the skin's defect in cathelicidin.

According to the source, "These results suggest that supplementation with oral vitamin D dramatically induces cathelicidin production in the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis," said Hata. "It also slightly elevated its production in normal skin in this study."