Category Archives: Vitamins

Allergy, Vitamins

Archie Cochrane speaking

I did not expect what a new Cochrane writes on the prevention of nutritional rickets in term born children — Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007 concludes

There a only few studies on the prevention of nutritional rickets in term born children. Until new data become available, it appears sound to offer preventive measures (vitamin D or calcium) to groups of high risk, like infants and toddlers; children living in Africa, Asia or the Middle East or migrated children from these regions into areas where rickets is not frequent. Due to a marked clinical heterogeneity and the scarcity of data, the main and adverse effects of preventive measures against nutritional rickets should be investigated in different countries, different age groups and in children of different ethnic origin.

May I summarize: 1. only a few studies; 2. vitamin D OR calcium and 3. to high risk kids only. This looks different to what Nestlé manufactures at the moment.

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 22.10.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Allergy, Vitamins

Contrary or Contradictory

A forthcoming “Perspectives in asthma” paper in “JACI” by Litonjua and Weiss will be about the vitamin D hypothesis. Although the authors find that

Evidence exists that vitamin D induces a shift in the balance between TH1 and TH2-rype cytokines toward TH2 dominance

they make a largely unexpected turn by saying that vitamin DEFICIENCY may be to blame for the asthma epidemic. The basic argumentation is

We hypothesize that as populations grow more prosperous and more Westernized, more time is spent indoors and there is less exposure to sunlight leading to vitamin D deficiency…

Given the immediate and effective vitamin D production in skin and its longterm availability by fat stores I cannot follow their last conclusion. Continue reading Contrary or Contradictory →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 19.10.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Allergy, Vitamins

The history of vitamin D discovery, industrial production and marketing

There is a new German dissertation about Vigantol (R) excellently written by Jochen Haas and just published at Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft “Vigantol, Adolf Windaus und die Geschichte des Vitamin D”. Altogether 425 pages, it contains a biographical sketch of Windaus (p 32-83), a detailed summary of the juristical questions about irradiating ergosterin (p 96-154), a detailed history of the pharmaceutical production (p 155-238) and finally a chapter about marketing of different brands by Merck (p 238-281). Continue reading The history of vitamin D discovery, industrial production and marketing →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 19.10.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Allergy, Vitamins

Why the allergy epidemic did not already start 1935 in Germany

moblog – I have now spent another day at the Berlin Document Center browsing through hundreds of RKI pages – manuscripts, correspondence, bills and personal files. My goal was to find out why the allergy epidemic did not already start off 1935 in Germany when vitamin D synthesis was already possible on a large scale.
Indeed, I found evidence that at least 3 companies radiated at that time yeast derived ergosterin by UV quartz lamps – I.G. Farben, Nordmark-Werke and Deutsche Vitamin Gesellschaft. The number of companies in this field Continue reading Why the allergy epidemic did not already start 1935 in Germany →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 12.10.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Allergy, Vitamins

Vitamin A and allergy

No, I am not confusing here vitamin A and vitamin D as done in the early days of vitamin research. This post is really about vitamin A (but with similar nomenclature problem as with vitamin D). Retinol is ingested in a precursor form; animal sources like liver (–>cod liver oil) contain retinyl esters, whereas plants like carrots contain carotenoids. Continue reading Vitamin A and allergy →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 28.09.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Allergy, Vitamins

A short history of steamed cod liver oil

First use of liver cod oil probably originates with the fishing communities of Norway, Greenland and Iceland several centuries ago – an excellent reference is at “Cod liver oil and chemistry” 1895 by Peckel Möller. This book has a nice account on fishing at the Lofotes around the turn of the last century with many details about the cod fish migration.
The first medical use is being dated to 1789 Continue reading A short history of steamed cod liver oil →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 26.09.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Vitamins

The road not taken

When discussing the problem of inducing allergy by rickets prophylaxis I have argumented earlier that there are many alternatives:

  • abandon daily oral prophylaxis in the general population (attn risk of t1d, rickets, pneumonia)
  • reduce daily oral dose with on demand therapy
  • use only 1-3 single oral shots as in former East Germany
  • exchange water-soluble by oily form
  • use chemically modified isomeres
  • co-application with “physiological” substances also in liver cod oil like Ca2+, P, vitamin A…
  • co-application with “non-physiological” Cpg ODN…
  • switch to parenteral application

There is even another option that I missed so far  – the parental application. Supplementation of the mother might work if given ~6000 IU/die to the mother as been nicely shown in a new study.routeb.png

The principle is not very new – probably known since 1927. RCTs are urgently needed comparing all these treatment options while a direct oral exposure of the gut mucosa by allergen and vitamin D should be avoided.

BTW “The road not taken” is a by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

 

3/9/2007

Rolf Zinkernagel made an interesting proposal last Saturday here in Munich – desenzitiation not by intradermal injection but by ultrasound directed lymphnode application.

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 25.09.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Vitamins

Enlightening

A new study reports a rather expected finding – young Finnish men in a military base ;-)

… conditions with respect to physical activity, nutrition, clohting, living quarters, and exposure to sunlight were homgenous

had twice as many respiratory infections if having serum vitamin D concentrations <40 nmol/L. The discussion, however, misses the point that there are many studies showing the same effect in children with rickets (references 82-86) eventually leading to pneumonia leading to death. “Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppression of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day” (Thomas Jefferson?)

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 24.09.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Genetics, Software, Vitamins

Tonk, Plonk and Plink

I have now used the PLINK software package also for analysing family data. Again it is an excellent program that allows many new views on old data. I could run >20 traits all together on ~1000 SNPs in just a few seconds. There are only a few tweaks that I have already emailed to the author Continue reading Tonk, Plonk and Plink →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 21.09.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Vitamins

Time to give Blackley the credit he deserves

I am currently doing some historical studies if the vitamin hypothesis fits also the temporal relationship of allergy prevalence. While ordering RKI files for my next trip to the Berlin document center, I found that farming and lower allergy sensitization is known much longer than I anticipated. Continue reading Time to give Blackley the credit he deserves →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 21.09.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Genetics, Vitamins

Turning pale

Humans have always been attracted by white animals, tigers, elephants and crocodiles (BTW great melanosome pictures can be found at PLOS.
There seem to be also some evidence that light skin developed only recently as reported in a meeting report in Science by April, 20 based on sweeps around SLC24A5. This is somewhat in contrast to findings published more or less at the same time by the same group (but not mentioned in the meetings report) that a highly complex network is influencing skin color. Continue reading Turning pale →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 4.06.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter
Allergy, Vitamins

Osteopontin bridging air pollution and immunology of allergic inflammation

Ostepopontin (OPN) is a remarkable substance. The many aliases already point towards a multitude of biological functions: SPP1=secreted phosphoprotein 1, BSPI 1=bone sialoprotein-1, CIT, ETA-1, GC110940, nephropontin, osteoprotegerin, uropontin, bone sialoprotein I, early T-lymphocyte activation among others. Continue reading Osteopontin bridging air pollution and immunology of allergic inflammation →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 9.05.2007, accessed 16.10.2025
please note VG Wort counter