Abstract
Modern lifestyle limits our exposure to sunlight, which photosynthesizes vitamin D in the skin, and the incidence of nutritional rickets has been resurging. Vitamin D is one of the first hormones; it is photosynthesized in all organism from the phytoplankton to mammals. A selective sweep of the promoter of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) happened as soon as Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa; it co-adapted with skin color genes to provide adaptation to latitudes and the levels of exposure to ultraviolet (UV)B radiation along the route out of Africa. Exposure to UVB radiation balances the need for vitamin D photosynthesis and degradation of folic acid by UVB radiation. Skin color follows a latitude distribution: the darkest populations dwell in the tropical belt; and the fair-skinned populations inhabit the northern countries. Due to their greater need for calcium during their reproductive life, the skin color of women is lighter- than that of men. Vitamin D is essential for mineral homeostasis and has a wide variety of non-skeletal functions, of which the most important for natural selection is a regulatory function in the innate immune system. In the human fossil record, vitamin D deficiency coincided with bone tuberculosis. About 6,000 years ago, a diet which included cow's milk provided Neolithic humans with twice as much calcium and was more alkaline than that of its Paleolithic predecessors. Adiposity is negatively associated with the vitamin D status and obese individuals require 2–3 times more vitamin D than non-obese individuals to normalize circulating 25OHD levels. In an era of an obesity epidemic, we need more research to determine whether adiposity should be considered when determining the dietary requirements for vitamin D and calcium and the optimal serum 25OHD levels.
Highlights
Modern lifestyle limits our exposure to sunlight, which photosynthesizes vitamin D in the skin, and the incidence of nutritional rickets has been resurging
Kappelman et al posited that TB was exacerbated in this dark-skinned individual who lived in the northern latitudes by a vitamin D deficiency because of lower levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR)
Evolution of skin color is partially explained by positive selection of light skin color by mate choice [44], the main disadvantage is attributed to the vitamin D deficiency in dark-skinned humans who live in areas with low levels of UVR
Summary
Rickets and osteomalacia have always been present in European populations and people from the Middle East, as evidenced from paleopathological specimens of juvenile rachitic bones and teeth with dentin defects which have been found in various archeological sites These specimens reveal a high prevalence of mineralization disruption in our human ancestors who lived in the subtropical and temperate climatic zones from over 100,000 years ago to the present era [1]. Kappelman et al posited that TB was exacerbated in this dark-skinned individual who lived in the northern latitudes by a vitamin D deficiency because of lower levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) The presumption of these paleoanthropologists implies the existence of an association between vitamin D deficiency and TB.
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