Study finds vitamin D alters mouse gut bacteria to give better cancer immunity

[ofonorow]

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04- ... teria.html

Reported in Science, the researchers found that mice given a diet rich in vitamin D had better immune resistance to experimentally transplanted cancers and improved responses to immunotherapy treatment. This effect was also seen when gene editing was used to remove a protein that binds to vitamin D in the blood and keeps it away from tissues.

Surprisingly, the team found that vitamin D acts on epithelial cells in the intestine, which in turn increase the amount of a bacteria called Bacteroides fragilis. This microbe gave mice better immunity to cancer as the transplanted tumors didn't grow as much, but the researchers are not yet sure how.