Vitamin D critical for transplant patients

Vitamin D continues to get attention as its healthful benefits become more and more clear. Now, a research study from Loyola University Health System points to vitamin D deficiency being linked to rejection of transplanted lungs. The material was presented at The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research 2010 annual meeting in Toronto.

“Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent among lung transplant recipients,” said Pauline Camacho, MD, study investigator and director of the Loyola University Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Center. “This study shed greater light on the serious impact that this deficiency has on lung transplant patients.”

Oddly, it’s a simple deficiency to get over with access to the sun. For many people, only 30 minutes of direct sunlight per week is enough to satisfy their bodies needs. Supplements are readily available and many foods feature added vitamin D for healthful benefit.

Patients who undergo lung transplants are naturally at risk for rejecting the organ. Seventy-seven percent of them lack vitamin D. We know vitamin D is crucial to the immune system function which must function optimally for transplant procedures.

Benefits of vitamin D include fending off cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes and even depression. Vitamin D may improve the health of lunch transplant patients by boosting the immune system during this vulnerable time. Further studies will evaluate the effect of vitamin D therapy on short and long term lung transplant rejection rates, function and survival.

For the study 122 patients were evaluated. After transplant surgery, 50% tested vitamin D deficient. For those patients who rejected the transplant, vitamin D deficiency was associated with the rejection in 51% of the cases. The deficiency may also be associated with airway inflammation.

Source: Loyola University Health System, ScienceDaily