The VitDAL lab, in collaboration with colleagues at the Moredun Research Institute, has published a paper this week describing the effects of the active vitamin D metabolite 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D on bovine dendritic cells. We showed that dendritic cells generated in the presence 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin have a profoundly different phenotype than wildtype controls. The 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D conditioned dendritic cells also produced different amounts of cytokines and were less effective at activating T cells. Our findings highlight the need to understand more about how vitamin D status influences the development of an immune response in cattle.
The paper is available as open access publication at the following link