Vitamin D may protect against placental infection

Supplementing the diet of pregnant women with vitamin D may enhance the placental innate immunity and protect it from infection, according to researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Production of an antimicrobial protein called cathelicidin was stimulated when trophoblasts - cells that develop to make up a major part of the placenta – were exposed to the active form of vitamin D (1,25(OH)2D). The study, published in the journal Biology of Reproduction, suggest that local synthesis of active 1,25(OH)2D may play a key role in placental innate immunity,” wrote the researchers, led by Martin Hewison from UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. “We further postulate that improvement of maternal vitamin D status through dietary supplementation may act to potentiate placental innate immune responses during pregnancy.”