ReviewAmerican journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology2019
The vitamin D-folate hypothesis in human vascular health.
Review in American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Difference in Levels of Vitamin D between Indoor and Outdoor Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Cutaneous microvascular function is reduced in winter compared with summer in healthy young adults.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Dark Skin Evolution in Early Humans: Revisiting the Skin Cancer Hypothesis Through Migration-Related Mismatch.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Review
- Plant-based diets for human health with implications for cardiometabolic health, gut microbiome, and nutritional adequacy.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- The controversial role of nutraceuticals vs. drugs in proliferative retinopathies.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Review
- A Program of Life-Style Modification Improved the Body Weight and Micronutrient Status in Obese Patients after Bariatric Surgery.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Within-limb variation in skin pigmentation does not influence cutaneous vasodilation.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2023Article
- Comparative Transcriptome Profiles of Human HaCaT Cells in Response toLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Vitamin D and risk of hypertension among Black women.Journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) · 2023Article
- Skin pigmentation is negatively associated with circulating vitamin D concentration and cutaneous microvascular endothelial function.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2022Article
- The evolution of human skin pigmentation involved the interactions of genetic, environmental, and cultural variables.Pigment cell & melanoma research · 2021Review
- Dissecting dynamics and differences of selective pressures in the evolution of human pigmentation.Biology open · 2021Article
- Examining "race" in physiology.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The vitamin D-folate hypothesis has been proposed as an explanation for the evolution of human skin pigmentation. According to this hypothesis, a darkened skin pigment was adapted by early human populations living in equatorial Africa to protect against photodegradation of bioavailable folate by ultraviolet radiation (UVR). As humans moved away from the equator to more northern latitudes and occupied regions of lower UVR exposure and greater seasonal variation, however, depigmentation occurred to allow for adequate biosynthesis of vitamin D. Vitamin D and folate are both recognized for their evolutionary importance in healthy pregnancy and early childhood development. More recently, evidence has emerged demonstrating the importance of both vitamin D and folate in vascular health via their effects in reducing oxidative stress and improving nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. Thus, populations with darkened skin pigmentation may be at elevated risk of vascular dysfunction and cardiovascular disease in low UVR environments due to hypovitaminosis D; particularly important as darkly-pigmented African-Americans represent an at-risk population for cardiovascular disease. Conversely, lightly pigmented populations in high UVR environments may be at risk of deleterious vascular effects of UVR-induced folate degradation. The focus of this review is to explore the currently available literature regarding the potential role of UVR in vascular health via its differential effects on vitamin D and folate metabolism, as well as the interaction between skin pigmentation, genetics, and environment in modulating the vascular influence of UVR exposure.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.