Abstract
Aim. Our aims were to determine the influence of plasma total 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) status on the plasma cytokine concentrations in athletes and the in vitro effects of different doses of 1, 25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1, 25(OH)2D3) on multiantigen stimulated cytokine production by whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures. Methods. Plasma samples from 43 athletes with high and low levels of 25(OH)D were assayed for the concentrations of cytokines. The whole blood samples and PBMCs from healthy subjects were incubated in vitro with a multi-antigen vaccine and different doses of added 1, 25(OH)2D3. The circulating cytokines and stimulated whole blood and PBMC culture production of cytokines were determined using a biochip assay. Results. The circulating interleukin-(IL-)10 and interferon-(IFN-) γ concentrations were significantly higher in the vitamin D sufficient athletes. Furthermore, the production of tumour necrosis factor-(TNF-) α, IL-6, IFN-γ, IL-2, and IL-10 by whole blood culture was significantly inhibited by 1, 25(OH)2D3 concentrations of 1000 pmol/L or 10000 pmol/L. Conclusions. We found that the influence of vitamin D on circulating cytokines might be different in athletes compared with nonathletes and cytokines production by whole blood culture was not influenced by 1, 25(OH)2D3 in concentrations within the normal healthy range.