Lupus in blacks associated with low vitamin D AND short telomeres – May 2013

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Vitamin D Deficiency Are Associated with Shorter Telomere Length among African Americans: A Case-Control Study.

PLoS One. 2013 May 20;8(5):e63725. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063725. Print 2013.
Hoffecker BM, Raffield LM, Kamen DL, Nowling TK.
Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that disproportionately affects African American females. The causes of SLE are unknown but postulated to be a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental triggers. Vitamin D deficiency is one of the possible environmental triggers. In this study we evaluated relationships between vitamin D status, cellular aging (telomere length) and anti-telomere antibodies among African American Gullah women with SLE. The study population included African American female SLE patients and unaffected controls from the Sea Island region of South Carolina. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured using a nonchromatographic radioimmunoassay. Telomere length was measured in genomic DNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by monochrome multiplex quantitative PCR. Anti-telomere antibody levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Patients with SLE had significantly shorter telomeres and higher anti-telomere antibody titers compared to age- and gender-matched unaffected controls. There was a positive correlation between anti-telomere antibody levels and disease activity among patients and a significant correlation of shorter telomeres with lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in both patients and controls. In follow-up examination of a subset of the patients, the patients who remained vitamin D deficient tended to have shorter telomeres than those patients whose 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were repleted. Increasing 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in African American patients with SLE may be beneficial in maintaining telomere length and preventing cellular aging. Moreover, anti-telomere antibody levels may be a promising biomarker of SLE status and disease activity.

PMID: 23700431

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See also Vitamin D Life

• Overview Dark Skin and Vitamin D
• Lupus biomarker ( regulatory T cell, treg) is associated with level of vitamin D – Jan 2013
• Lupus flares totally eliminated by loading dose then 100000 IU of vitamin D each month – Oct 2012
• Lupus 8X more likely to not even have 20 ng of vitamin D – May 2011
• Telomeres longer for dialysis patients having higher levels of vitamin D – March 2012
• Telomeres improved when obese blacks took 2000 IU of vitamin D daily – Oct 2011
• 60 percent chance of longer white blood cell (leukocyte) telomere if have lots of vitamin D – May 2013
• Telomeres for a Longer, Healthier Life - book mentions vitamin D 2010
• All items in Dark Skin and vitamin D 425 items
• All items in Lupus and vitamin D 60 items
• All items in Genetics and vitamin D 266 items