Vitamin D, Vitamin A and Progression to AIDS
When I was a graduate student at U.C. Berkeley, we were always taught to "never ignore an argument against your position." Simply put, this means that data, contrary to what you presently think, could be right after all. Some scientists waste years of their lives chasing after pet ideas that are factually wrong. They simply cannot accept the fact that they are factually wrong so they "ignore contrary evidence to their position."
In the past, I have warned clients to stay out of the sun because vitamin D caused a 10,000 fold activation of HIV synthesis in macrophage cell lines. My rationale was that people in Africa are exposed to equatorial sun, UV beta radiation, and this makes a substantial amount of vitamin D3 in their skin. The vitamin D3 proceeds to substantially increase HIV synthesis.
In the course of my work on vitamin D3 and bone development, I found numerous articles that showed, quite convincingly, that vitamin D was deficient in HIV infected persons and that these people suffered from hypocalcemia and bone density defects. These papers didn't make any sense to me at the time, but I did print them for further reference.
The "idea bomb" dropped when I found out that Africans, or anyone with pigmented skin, especially those who wear clothing to shield themselves from the skin, are deficient in vitamin D synthesis. Pigmented skin inhibits vitamin D3 formation and clothing further blocks skin exposure to UV beta radiation.
So I tracked down the article on vitamin D and HIV expression in macrophages and found that vitamin D has NO affects on HIV synthesis in these cells. The response of these macrophage cell lines to vitamin D, with respect to HIV synthesis, depends entirely on what immune hormones these cells are secreting at the time.
For the last week, I have been frantically searching the affects of vitamin D and its sometimes synergistic partner, vitamin A, on HIV synthesis and immune responsiveness. What I have found is actually quite amazing.
As I wrote yesterday, vitamin D3 can bind its receptor and activate certain genes all by itself. Vitamin A and all its biochemical derivatives can do the same thing. Other genes need both vitamin D3 and retinoids (vitamin A) in order to be activated.
If the ratio between vitamin D3 and vitamin A in the body changes, so does the immune response to pathogens, such as HIV.
The following chart lists all the foods that contain vitamin A. There are a ton of them. Keep in mind that only 5000 IU of vitamin A is needed each day. Many of these foods contain thousands of times this amount of vitamin A. I never knew that vitamin A was present in so many vetetables. Of course, some of the vitamin A is in the form of beta-carotene, a pre-vitamin A molecules, but that's OK.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-000098000000000000000.html
Now consider vitamin D3. It is ONLY present in salmon and fish livers like cod liver oil. That's it. Vitamin D3 must be made in the skin or taken as supplements.
If the synthesis of vitamin D3 in the skin is blocked, or if dietary/supplement use is curtailed, the ratio between vitamin D3 and vitamin A will shift toward a vitamin A dominance. If this happens, the immune system will shift itself toward a TH2, or antibody (allergy) based immune response which is totally incapable of clearing the HIV virus. In fact, retinoids inhibit TNF activity, an essential immune hormone for fighting infections, and affect the DNA structure of HIV infected cells, keeping them in a latent state. In short, retinoids inhibit the establishment of
a cell mediated immune response against the HIV virus, thereby perpetuating chronic viral activity.
High dominance of retinoids, coupled to low vitamin D3 synthesis or activation or both, enhance the immune dysfunction caused by HIV proteins such as NEF and gp120.
These problems can be corrected.
Stay tuned...
Grouppe Kurosawa, Medicine in the Public Interest
(http://www.grouppekurosawa.com)
In the past, I have warned clients to stay out of the sun because vitamin D caused a 10,000 fold activation of HIV synthesis in macrophage cell lines. My rationale was that people in Africa are exposed to equatorial sun, UV beta radiation, and this makes a substantial amount of vitamin D3 in their skin. The vitamin D3 proceeds to substantially increase HIV synthesis.
In the course of my work on vitamin D3 and bone development, I found numerous articles that showed, quite convincingly, that vitamin D was deficient in HIV infected persons and that these people suffered from hypocalcemia and bone density defects. These papers didn't make any sense to me at the time, but I did print them for further reference.
The "idea bomb" dropped when I found out that Africans, or anyone with pigmented skin, especially those who wear clothing to shield themselves from the skin, are deficient in vitamin D synthesis. Pigmented skin inhibits vitamin D3 formation and clothing further blocks skin exposure to UV beta radiation.
So I tracked down the article on vitamin D and HIV expression in macrophages and found that vitamin D has NO affects on HIV synthesis in these cells. The response of these macrophage cell lines to vitamin D, with respect to HIV synthesis, depends entirely on what immune hormones these cells are secreting at the time.
For the last week, I have been frantically searching the affects of vitamin D and its sometimes synergistic partner, vitamin A, on HIV synthesis and immune responsiveness. What I have found is actually quite amazing.
As I wrote yesterday, vitamin D3 can bind its receptor and activate certain genes all by itself. Vitamin A and all its biochemical derivatives can do the same thing. Other genes need both vitamin D3 and retinoids (vitamin A) in order to be activated.
If the ratio between vitamin D3 and vitamin A in the body changes, so does the immune response to pathogens, such as HIV.
The following chart lists all the foods that contain vitamin A. There are a ton of them. Keep in mind that only 5000 IU of vitamin A is needed each day. Many of these foods contain thousands of times this amount of vitamin A. I never knew that vitamin A was present in so many vetetables. Of course, some of the vitamin A is in the form of beta-carotene, a pre-vitamin A molecules, but that's OK.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-000098000000000000000.html
Now consider vitamin D3. It is ONLY present in salmon and fish livers like cod liver oil. That's it. Vitamin D3 must be made in the skin or taken as supplements.
If the synthesis of vitamin D3 in the skin is blocked, or if dietary/supplement use is curtailed, the ratio between vitamin D3 and vitamin A will shift toward a vitamin A dominance. If this happens, the immune system will shift itself toward a TH2, or antibody (allergy) based immune response which is totally incapable of clearing the HIV virus. In fact, retinoids inhibit TNF activity, an essential immune hormone for fighting infections, and affect the DNA structure of HIV infected cells, keeping them in a latent state. In short, retinoids inhibit the establishment of
a cell mediated immune response against the HIV virus, thereby perpetuating chronic viral activity.
High dominance of retinoids, coupled to low vitamin D3 synthesis or activation or both, enhance the immune dysfunction caused by HIV proteins such as NEF and gp120.
These problems can be corrected.
Stay tuned...
Grouppe Kurosawa, Medicine in the Public Interest
(http://www.grouppekurosawa.com)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home