Ricerc@Sapienza

The relevance of vitamin D to skeletal muscle metabolism has been highlighted in recent years. The interest arises from the important findings of studies demonstrating multiple effects of vitamin D on this tissue, which can be divided into genomic (direct effects) and non-genomic effects (indirect effects). Another important aspect to be considered in the study of vitamin D and muscle fiber metabolism is related to different expression of vitamin D receptor (VDR), which varies in muscle tissue depending on age, sex, and pathology.

BACKGROUND: Several immune mechanisms activate in COVID-19 pathogenesis. Usually, coronavirus infection is characterized by dysregulated host immune responses, interleukine-6 increase, hyper-activation of cytotoxic CD8 T lymphocytes. Interestingly, Vitamin D deficiency has been often associated with altered immune responses and infections. In the present study, we evaluated Vitamin D plasma levels in patients affected with different lung involvement during COVID-19 infection.METHODS: Lymphocyte phenotypes were assessed by flow cytometry.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the first cause of chronic liver disease worldwide; it ranges from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis (NASH) and, potentially, cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma. NAFLD is also an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality. As it is largely associated with insulin resistance and related disorders, NAFLD has been recently re-named as Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD). At present, there are no approved pharmacological treatments for this condition.

BACKGROUND:
Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a chronic and often severe bilateral conjunctivitis. VKC etiology remains still unclear although endocrine, genetic, neurogenic and environmental factors have been implied. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble prohormone whose main function is the regulation of calcium and phosphate metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum vitamin D in children affected by VKC compared to the healthy children and investigate the relationship between its levels and disease severity.
METHODS:

BACKGROUND: Physical exercise plays an important role in bone mineralization as well as factors involved in bone metabolism influence the athletic performance. In European countries, soccer is the most popular sport. The aim of the study was to investigate bone metabolism, bone mass and structural integrity profile in professional male adult football players.

Alterations in musculoskeletal health with advanced age contribute to sarcopenia and decline in bone mineral density (BMD) and bone strength. This decline may be modifiable via dietary supplementation. To test the hypothesis that a specific oral nutritional supplement can result in improvements in measures of bone health.

A chronic low-grade inflammatory profile (CLIP) is associated with sarcopenia in older adults. Protein and Vitamin (Vit)D have immune-modulatory potential, but evidence for effects of nutritional supplementation on CLIP is limited.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease in the world. NAFLD is known to be associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and increased cardiovascular events: for these reasons, it is becoming a global public health problem and represents an important challenge in terms of prevention and treatment. The mechanisms behind the pathogenesis of NAFLD are multiple and have not yet been completely unraveled; consequently, at moment there are not effective treatments.

For decades 25(OH) vitamin D has been considered a dynamic steroid hormone exerting its action as a transcription factor regulating the expression of various genes (1). Vitamin D is a cluster of fat-soluble molecules analogous to steroids. Numerous forms of vitamin D exist; cholecalciferol (or vitamin D3) is synthesized in reaction to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation of the skin consequential to the photochemical cleavage of 7-dehydrocholesterol, a precursor of cholesterol in the skin.