Written by Annie Lennon — Fact checked by Jessica Beake, Ph.D.

Researchers investigated the effects of vitamin D on systematic low-grade inflammation.
They found that vitamin D deficiency leads to higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers.
They concluded that improving vitamin D status among deficient patients could lower their risk or severity of chronic illnesses with inflammatory components
Systematic low-grade inflammation is characterized by the prolonged release of inflammatory molecules and is linkedTrusted Source to various health conditions.

While vitamin D is classically known for regulating calcium levels, recent studiesTrusted Source have shown that it may play a role in modulating the body’s inflammatory response too.

For example, research has linked vitamin D concentrations in the blood with C-reactive protein levels (CRP), a widely used inflammatory biomarker.

However, it remains unknown whether low vitamin D levels increase CRP levels, as demonstrated in randomized trialsTrusted Source.

Recently, researchers examined the evidence for whether vitamin D levels influence CRP levels in a new study.

The researchers reported a direct link between low vitamin D levels and higher CRP levels. They say that their findings could provide an important biomarker for identifying people at risk of inflammatory illnesses.

“There is mounting evidence that improvement in vitamin D status reduces risk for autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory disorders such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Michael F. Holick, professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study, told Medical News Today.

“This is also consistent with the recent observation from the VITAL trialTrusted Source that reported that those adults who took 2000 IUs vitamin D3 daily for up to 5 years reduced risk of all autoimmune disorders by 22% compared to the placebo group,” he added.

The study was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology