Key Points

• One of the most important functions of vitamin D is to enable access to the information stored within DNA for a cell’s proper response to routine signals and stimuli, processes that occur constantly within every body tissue; adequate concentrations of vitamin D are necessary to enable a full and proper response
• Immune cells can become activated with vitamin D and vitamin D can inhibit cancer cell growth, just a few examples of processes that are turned on or off by the action(s) that vitamin D has on specific genes within those cells
• A significant “dose-dependent” effect was observed for gene expression at all levels of vitamin D intake, meaning the higher the dose the more genes that were affected