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¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Charles Drew University of Medicine & Science, Los Angeles, California 90059, USA² Department of Biomedical Sciences, Charles Drew University of Medicine & Science, Los Angeles, California 90059, USA³ Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90024, USA

(Correspondence should be addressed to J N Artaza at Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Molecular Medicine, Charles Drew University of Medicine & Science, 1731 East 120th Street, Los Angeles, California 90059, USA; Email: jorgeartaza{at}cdrewu.edu)

Hypovitaminosis D is an important public health problem. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) is now recognized as an independent predictor for cardiovascular and related diseases (CVD) as well as other chronic medical conditions. However, the biologic pathways through which these effects are mediated remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that exposing mesenchymal multipotent cells (MMCs) to the active form of vitamin D would increase the expression of selected antifibrotic factors that in turn would ameliorate the progression of chronic diseases. MMCs were primed with 5'-azacytidine to induce a fibrotic phenotype and then treated with active vitamin D (1,25D) or ethanol <0.1% as vehicle in a time course manner (30 min, 1, 5, and 24 h, and for 4 and 7 days). The addition of 1,25D to MMCs promotes: a) increased expression and nuclear translocation of the vitamin D receptor; b) decreased expression of TGFB1 and plasminogen activator inhibitor (SERPINE1), two well-known profibrotic factors; c) decreased expression of collagen I, III and other collagens isoforms; and d) increased expression of several antifibrotic factors such as BMP7 a TGFB1 antagonist, MMP8 a collagen breakdown inducer and follistatin, an inhibitor of the profibrotic factor myostatin. In conclusion, the addition of 1,25D to differentiated MMCs displays a decreased profibrotic signaling pathway and gene expression, leading to decrease in collagen deposition. This study highlights key mechanistic pathways through which vitamin D decreases fibrosis, and provides a rationale for studies to test vitamin D supplementation as a preventive and/or early treatment strategy for CVD and related fibrotic disorders.

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				J. N. Artaza, R. Mehrotra, and K. C. Norris Vitamin D and the Cardiovascular System Clin. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol., September 1, 2009; 4(9): 1515 - 1522. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]