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.