vitamin D and marine omega 3 fatty acid supplementation and incident autoimmune disease

Last edited 09/2023 and last reviewed 10/2023

Vitamin D and marine omega 3 fatty acid supplementation and incident autoimmune disease

The vitamin D receptor is expressed on immune cells (B cells, T cells and antigen presenting cells) and these immunologic cells are all are capable of synthesizing the active vitamin D metabolite, vitamin D has the capability of acting in an autocrine manner in a local immunologic milieu (1)

• vitamin D can modulate the innate and adaptive immune responses
• deficiency in vitamin D is associated with increased autoimmunity as well as an increased susceptibility to infection (1)

A study by Hahn et al showed that:

• vitamin D supplementation for five years, with or without omega 3 fatty acids, reduced autoimmune disease by 22%, while omega 3 fatty acid supplementation with or without vitamin D reduced the autoimmune disease rate by 15% (not statistically significant).
  • both treatment arms showed larger effects than the reference arm (vitamin D placebo and omega 3 fatty acid placebo)

Reference:

• Aranow C. Vitamin D and the immune system. J Investig Med. 2011 Aug;59(6):881-6. doi: 10.2310/JIM.0b013e31821b8755. PMID: 21527855; PMCID: PMC3166406
• Hahn J, Cook N R, Alexander E K, Friedman S, Walter J, Bubes V et al. Vitamin D and marine omega 3 fatty acid supplementation and incident autoimmune disease: VITAL randomized controlled trial BMJ 2022; 376 :e066452.