A genetic analysis has found weak evidence that vitamin D causally influences atopic dermatitis, and vitamin D supplementation is not supported as a therapy for the disorder, according to study findings published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
Researchers used genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from the most recent vitamin D meta-analysis to identify potential evidence of causality and the direction of causal effect of vitamin D level and atopic dermatitis risk. They derived a genetic instrument of 59 independent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (r2 < 0.001) reported to be most strongly associated with 25-OHD levels. Summary GWAS data were also obtained from a recent atopic dermatitis GWAS meta-analysis.