Novel role of vit. D receptor in maintaining integrity of intestinal mucosal barrier
 

This is quite interesting and makes perfect sense. If anyone has further studies, please share, especially in human models:

http://ajpgi.physiology.org/content/294/1/G208

this certainly make sense for bowel disease, and for celiacs, because this is what happens in people with celiacs.

These two reviews are worth a read in this context;

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2955835/

http://bmcgastroenterol.biomedcentra...876-014-0189-7

Again--
 

--check The Gluten File for a lot of papers on the role of VitaminD in immune function and intestinal permeability.

The Gluten File was originally put together by Cara, AKA jccglutenfree (her journey to learning about gluten and celiac is fascinating in its own right, and she was doing this well before celiac became a cause celebre--indeed, her work may have helped to set greater awareness of celiac in motion some two decades ago). Over time many have added to it and I think it is still the best database out there for poking into the more obscure corners of intestinal malabsorption issues; for instance, she was the first one to compile in one place a lot of the important work of Dr. Hadijvassiliou, who examined the neruological aspects of gluten intolerance and posited a different genetic profile for those who might have neurological symptoms, as opposed to gastric ones, early in the process (with all the attendant misdiagnoses that might entail).

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=1872

Thanks, Kiwi. I located and read the first last night and meant to post it this morning, but you beat me to it. I haven't yet read the second, which I'll do now.

I did. That's where I found the article I posted above, but I wanted to share it and look for more and more recent things on this particular issue.

Fascinating. I'll keep exploring the file. I looked through it yesterday and read a number of things.

Thanks for the links guys. Genetic testing shows that I have a mutation in the VDR taq gene. And I have suffered with IBS for most of my life. Probably time for me to look at this issue again.

The problem with genetic testing and looking at all the methylation related mutations you can have is that there are so many positive and negative interactions between the various mutations. So, if you have multiple mutations like I do, its hard to know what to do. The specific dietary supplementation necessary to "fix" one issue might be contraindicated for one of the other issues.

My issues had kind of settled down for a while, but are acting up a bit again. I was taking a bit of a break from making health research my second job. But, I think its time to try and re-examine my approach to managing my health. But it does get depressing when you find so many potential problems but so few potential solutions. :mad:

Ragtop,

I'm sorry to hear that your gut issues are acting up again. It's not fun, I know too well. Have you considered SIBO as the root cause? There is leaky gut that's certainly related, and we now see vitamin D plays a role in that it seems. I'm trying to get to the root of mine too, or to try to heal it. I do think it's due to my intestinal permeability that my SFN and other health problems arose...that's my best guess anyway, and it seems like a good one. Anyway, I hope you improve.

I also wanted to thank you for posting about your mutation in the VDR taq gene. I didn't know about this. What does it mean for you? Perhaps it's worth getting myself checked out? I don't think I have difficulty creating D from sunlight, but I could be wrong, since my first ever D serum test was this past November. But I suppose I would have had problems earlier than in my 30s, if I had issues with vitamin D. Perhaps not though, and if vitamin D is connected to the gut, considering I've had those issues for many years, perhaps there is a problem with my ability to produce vitamin D. I'll have to look more into this. Thank you for pointing me to it. I had no idea.

Well, it's frustrating and annoying and all that, true. I also hear you about the need to make medical and health research a second job. It's taking up so much of my time, and I find myself reading more medical literature than my own work. At some point I'll have to slow down. Hopefully you can find a solution to your issue. :)

David it also could be gut micro organisms, we are finding out they are related to many diseases. I'm generally in the gut dysbiosis camp too, will be interesting to know if anything works for you. So far I'm taking omega3 and vitamin d and in the process of reducing my sugar consumption. I feel the diet has made me feel a little better.

Yes, and I've spoken about this in my case on several occasions. I suspect a host of problems with my gut, and as we know things like SIBO and intestinal permeability, dysbiosis and all that go hand in hand more often than not.

I am starting a course of herbal antibiotics and antifungals and then a custom probiotic blend soon thereafter. Omega 3/cod liver oil and other supplements will soon follow. I have a whole regimen that I came up with after much research, and I am hoping it works. Vitamin D has been the great surprise. I had no idea about its general importance in immunity and now intestinal health.

I'm not sure about your story, but hopefully healing your gut will help. Diet has made a huge difference for me, ketogenic paleo, very low sugar and carbs. And after many months on it, it seems I can more easily tolerate carbs and recently I've noticed I can pretty much eat anything I want (no gluten and alcohol) and won't have any or much of a reaction. But I'm not going to take any of it for granted and will go back and try even harder, since diet alone can't heal the gut, but it does help with symptoms. It's more of a necessary rather than a sufficient condition.

I've been using Lemon Balm tea for over a month now. I started it on a suggestion from a friend who uses it for its calming qualities.

But what really turned out to be the most useful for me, was it calmed by GI cramping issues that I have had all my life.

So I looked it up more thoroughly... It has been used for hundreds of years for colic. And to help with viral illnesses.

I skipped one day by mistake, and my cramping returned!

I am now convinced it is calming my GI issues which I have from HAE and my congenital malrotation.

This is how I take it: in tea form. One large mug about 10oz...of hot water, steeped from 5-10 minutes with a little honey added for flavor. It is fairly pleasant and not offensive in any way. It is not lemon flavored, only a bit lemony in a vague sense.

This is the brand I am using. I found it at Whole Foods and a local grocery too. Less $$ than Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Me...Lemon+balm+tea

I have one mug of this in the morning. I tried 2 a day and that made me too tired. This does not have caffeine and so therefore it can make one drowsy. It took about a week to start working on the GI pain and cramping. But the calming aspects were immediate.

For those here with IBS type symptoms, you might find it works to quell them for you, as it is doing for me. Sometimes it seems to be like a mild diuretic for me too...but not always.

Lemon balm tea is not the same as Lemon teas. So be careful about what you buy. This one I am using is only lemon balm with no other ingredients.

I've sent for some seeds of this herb to try this spring to grow my own, but they haven't arrived yet. Lemon balm is easy to grow as I recall and can take over in the garden quickly.

Thank you for this, Mrs.D. The brand you use is excellent and we have a cupboard full of their teas, and funny enough my wife swears by the lemon balm. I haven't tried it myself, but will check it out. I use all sorts of tea with and after meals to calm things down. Most recently fennel and peppermint have been very helpful. I'll give this one a try tonight. :)

MrsD., do you know anything about the VDR issue that Ragtop mentions? Thanks in advance.

Sorry, no I don't. But I did find this:

http://resqua.com/702188759/what-is-...a-vdr-taq-gene

It explains it pretty well.

There's also this: http://ihateticks.me/2014/08/25/vdr-...ey-do-and-how/

At the end it links to a study on the subject, but it's behind a paywall. It seems from the little out there that I've now read that we just don't know enough about what the three mutations or polymorphisms mean. Does that sound right? I'm not an expert on this stuff, not even close. Perhaps Kiwi can say a thing or two. Here is the article we can't access btw: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...78111904003075

DavidHC, annoyingly the article that you linked is behind a paywall for me as well - my host institution does not have an e-subscription to Gene.

The Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) is a transcription factor. What that means is that when it binds the active form of Vitamin D (1,25-D) it moves from the cytoplasm to the nucleus where it can potentially switch on the expression of many hundreds of different genes. There is an account of this here; http://mpkb.org/home/pathogenesis/vitamind/metabolism.

This whole field is very complex - switching on or off the expression of a given gene is rarely controlled by a single transcription factor - they work in "teams". Hypothetically, switching on expression of gene A might need VDR as well as transcription factors X and Y but this could be blocked by transcription factor Z.

Many Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) in the VDR gene have been identified. The Taq1 SNP, mentioned above, formally Rs731236, has been linked to many health conditions (https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Rs731236).

As far I can see, to date these are just correlations. More work will be needed before we understand the mechanisms which are involved and then figure out how to intervene in a clinically helpful way.

David:
As you can see from the replies here, the whole genetic aspect of diseases is very complex and frustrating to understand. I had the genetic testing done by 23andme - it costs about $100. You can then run the raw data through various sites to get information on the mutations. The genes related to methylation seem to be of some significance in relation to neurological and digestive issues.
In my case I am +/+ for the VDR taq gene and +/- for the two of the three COMT genes. (I also have a +/+ mutation on the A1298C MTHFR gene) So, I do take supplements and eat foods that contain a lot of methyl donors. Seems to help, but its no magic bullet.
The problem is that there are so many variables, positive and inverse interactions between genes, things that "switch" genes on or off, etc., etc. When I look at all the diseases that are associated with the various mutations I have - I wonder how I even made it the age of 53...........:rolleyes:

Mrs.D, we had some lemon balm tea last night after dinner, and it was very soothing and nice. I wasn't surprised to find out that it's part of the mint family. Peppermint is very soothing and wonderful for the digestive system. :)

No kidding. Complex indeed. Thanks, I appreciate your help with all this. And we're only just learning about all of it. Though I work in the sciences at a research level, my field is not biology, certainly not cellular biology or genetics, so I'm new to all this. I'm reading and absorbing as much information as I can, but it'll take some time to get to an advanced level, or even basic competence ;)

Thanks, Ragtop. :)

This, very much this!

"The problem is that there are so many variables, positive and inverse interactions between genes, things that "switch" genes on or off, etc., etc. When I look at all the diseases that are associated with the various mutations I have - I wonder how I even made it the age of 53."

It's fascinating but so complex, in great part due to the fact that we know so little about the complex interactions/operations at that level.

You know, I was avoiding it, but I may actually go ahead and get the test done. At the same time, I think well I've survived so far, and considering it could be much worse. In fact, if I took better care of myself, I don't think anything genetic would have done me in. The genetics of my family is very good, so clearly I screwed with something on the way... :(