ReviewBiology of sex differences2021
The role of vitamin D in autoimmune diseases: could sex make the difference?
Review in Biology of sex differences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 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
69 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 111 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Impact of Dietary Factors during Pregnancy on the Development of Islet Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes: A Systematic Literature Review.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Vitamin D Supplementation and Testosterone Levels in Breast Cancer Survivors.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Trial
- Weight Loss Induces Changes in Vitamin D Status in Women With Obesity But Not in Men: A Randomized Clinical Trial.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Trial
- Vitamin D as a Modulator of Sarcopenia in Women: Interactions with Dietary Patterns and Physical Exercise.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Th2 and Th17/Th1 Inflammatory Profiles in Chronic Rhinosinusitis: Associations with Vitamin D Status and Disease Severity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Vitamin D and Hemopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Clinical Guidance for GVHD Management and Post-Transplant Outcomes.Cancers · 2026Review
- Vitamin D Modulates Humoral Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Autoimmune Thyroiditis: An Endocrine-Immune Perspective Supported by Network Pharmacology, Molecular Docking, and Molecular Dynamics Simulations.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Association of Vitamin D Deficiency with Mortality and Cardiorenal Events in Sjögren's Syndrome and Osteoporosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Adjunctive photodynamic therapy improves outcomes and quality of life in condyloma acuminatum after radical cervical cancer surgery.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Association between vitamin D and central precocious puberty in children: Threshold effects and mediation mechanisms based on LC-MS/MS quantitation.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2026Article
- The relationship between nutrition status indicators and vitamin D deficiency in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Immuno-nutritional therapy in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: a translational pathway to multiple sclerosis management.Inflammopharmacology · 2025Review
- Influence of Sex and 1,25α Dihydroxyvitamin DPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The therapeutic potential of vitamin D supplementation in asthma.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2025Review
- Effects of Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Inflammatory Markers in Overweight and Obese Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Vitamin D Imbalance and Hydro-Electrolyte Disturbances in Hospitalized Children: A Comparation Between Post-COVID-19 Status and SARS-CoV-2/EBV Coinfection.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Sex-dependent variation in bone adaptation: from degeneration to regeneration.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2025Review
- Type 1 Diabetes Autoimmunity: To What Extent Vitamin D is Beneficial.Biochemistry research international · 2025Review
- Gender-specific association between circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and platelet to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio: evidence from two population-based studies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Over the last decades, a central role for vitamin D in immune modulation has been well established. The active form of vitamin D, i.e., 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, through the interaction with vitamin D receptor, exerts different activities on the innate and adaptive immune system, among which suppression of inflammation and promotion of tolerogenic responses. Vitamin D insufficiency has been linked to autoimmune disorders that commonly display significant differences between females and males due to genetic, epigenetic, hormonal, and environmental factors. Notably, a number of studies recently showed a cross-talk between vitamin D and the sex hormone estrogen. Estrogen-mediated effects on immune response may favor a Th1 profile or a Th2 profile, depending on hormone concentration. Thus, estrogen-mediated effects appear to be variable on autoimmunity depending on its concentration but also on the pathogenic mechanisms underlying the different autoimmune diseases (i.e., Th1- or Th2-mediated diseases). Notably, estrogen has been demonstrated to enhance vitamin D function favoring its accumulation, and increasing the expression of vitamin D receptor, thus resulting in a more potent anti-inflammatory response in females than males. On the other hand, vitamin D has been shown to downregulate in immune cells the expression of aromatase, which converts testosterone to estrogen, leading to a decrease in estrogen level. Overall, available data allow us to hypothesize a higher protective effect of vitamin D-based therapeutic approaches in women, at least in fertile age, than in men. Future studies are needed to expand current knowledge on the immunomodulatory role of vitamin D in a sex and gender perspective, paving the way to a more personalized therapeutic approach in autoimmune diseases.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.