When a little ray of sunshine isn’t enough

Researchers from London’s Kingston University have recently developed a highly-accurate blood test which may detect how a patient’s diet could be responsible for vitamin D deficiencies. The results showed the sun was not the only way of treating shortages in vitamin D.

The team, led by Professor Declan Naughton, spent five months developing the test which, showed for the first time the different forms of vitamin D the body absorbs from diet and sunlight (known as vitamin D2 and vitamin D3). The team showed the different forms of vitamin D could be individually distinguished from closely related compounds.

The blood test was devised by Professor Naughton’s team after they identified the need for a more thorough analysis of the various types of vitamin D.

The team reviewed two decades of research and found the exact link between vitamin D deficiency and chronic diseases was unclear.

“There are also question marks about just what level of vitamin D is healthy, and it may be that when we talk about deficiency in the future.It should be very clearly broken down into the different forms of vitamin D arising from diet and sunlight,” Professor Naughton said.

The test was developed using liquid chromatography where a solution is passed through a column containing beads coated with certain molecules.

Different compounds bind to the beads with varying strength, allowing the vitamin to be separated from blood constituents.

Following chromatography, all molecules are identified by their size using a term known as ‘mass spectrometry’. This combined method allows separation of the active forms of vitamin D from inactive related compounds which can lead to false test results.

GPs in the UK are now routinely administering vitamin D injections to boost patients’ levels.

Researchers said the blood test could be used to demonstrate the role vitamin D deficiency plays in illnesses including diabetes and cancer.

“Many people know the main source of vitamin D is from exposure to sunlight because humans produce a type of vitamin D naturally from the action of sun on the skin,” Professor Naughton said.

“But what is perhaps less well known is that another type of the vitamin can be found in foods such as salmon, mackerel, sardines and egg yolks. Our new test can individually measure all the forms of vitamin D that are important, and potentially help us to understand exactly what is causing any deficiency,” he said.

Professor Naughton said vitamin D deficiency remained a major problem in the Western world;several studies have indicated 40% to 100% of elderly people in America and Europe have vitamin D deficiencies. 

He hoped the development would lead to further trials exploring vitamin D deficiencies and a range of medical conditions.

“We’re already arranging to apply the test to hospital patients in Saudi Arabia, looking at the effects of vitamin D deficiency in multiple sclerosis patients and those with other neurological disorders,” Professor Naughton said.

Fact: Shortages in vitamin D can also weaken the immune system and increase the risk of cancer and osteoporosis.

What measures do you take to ensure you receive healthy levels of vitamin D? Let us know in the comment box below.