Vitamin D Fortification: A Promising Approach to Overcome Drug Resistance and Tolerance in Therapeutic Interventions
Volume 2024, Article ID 9978076, 16 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/9978076
Digvijaya,1 Saurabh Mittal©,2 Prateek Mittal,3 Ruhi Singh,2 Simran Gupta,2 Taniya Singh,2 Rahmuddin Khan©,4 Nafaa Alzobaidi ,5 and Abdulsalam Alhalmi 6
The issue of drug resistance and tolerance presents a significant challenge as it diminishes the efficacy and potency of medications, posing a formidable obstacle for physicians striving to enhance pharmacological therapy worldwide. These resistance mechanisms can arise from genetic predispositions or as a consequence of medical interventions. Notably, acquired resistance or tolerance may extend to other drugs within the same or different classes, despite differing mechanisms of action. This phenomenon leads to the ineffectiveness of various pharmacological treatments over time, hindering the attainment of complete remission for numerous illnesses spanning metabolic disorders, autoimmune diseases, carcinomas, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological disorders.
Vitamin D, an essential lipid-soluble nutrient crucial for regulating calcium and phosphorus levels, is emerging as a potential solution to counteract treatment resistance and tolerance in various conditions such as cancer, tuberculosis, and depression. This review scrutinizes existing research and offers insights for future investigations aimed at fully elucidating the therapeutic potential of vitamin D in mitigating the challenges associated with prolonged medication regimens and drug treatment failures.
Conclusion (from PDF)
Various studies have been conducted to date which report and support the role of vitamin D in the etiology of several chronic disorders. Where the deficiency of vitamin D is found to increase the risk of worsening of the disease, supplementation with adequate doses of the vitamin is found to ameliorate the symptoms associated with the chronic disorder. Vitamin D is found to be effective in preventing the pathogenesis of depression and various studies have supported its presence and role in the pathophysiology of major depression. Also, its role as an adjuvant to the drugs such as fluoxetine is proved by the studies, so we believe and suggest exploring its role in reversing drug tolerance. Moreover, various types of cancerous cell lines with resistance to one or the other anticancer drugs have proved to regain sensitivity for the drugs when treated with vitamin D. Some studies also suspect the role of vitamin D in TB and several microbial infections and opens the way to further research studies to investigate the reversal of drug resistance. One of the most important challenges faced by clinicians in the pharmacological treatment of chronic ailments is the long-term use of the drugs which possibly leads to drug resistance and tolerance and hence failure of the drug therapy.
Also, vitamin D deficiency is associated with almost every chronic disorder; so it can be concluded and hypothesized from the above- mentioned studies that vitamin D may also find its role in preventing the occurrence or reversing the mechanism of drug resistance and tolerance.
The studies also reported the superiority of pharmacological treatment when combined with vitamin D supplements in comparison to the drugs administered alone. Further high-quality research is required to find the role of vitamin D supplementation in preventing drug resistance and tolerance.
There are a number of options to investigate in order to better understand how vitamin D works therapeutically to fight drug resistance and to choose the best way to use it. One possible experimental strategy is to use cell lines in vitro to study the molecular mechanisms, such as how vitamin D affects drug efflux pumps or drug metabolic pathways. The in vivo benefits of vitamin D could be further investigated through animal experiments that utilize models of drug- resistant illnesses. Vitamin D supplementation in patients undergoing conventional pharmacological treatments and . . . . .12 studies examining the advantages of vitamin D in conjunction with current treatments are two examples of crucial clinical trials that must be conducted. Pharmacogenomic research has the potential to uncover genetic markers that indicate how a person will react to vitamin D, which could lead to more targeted approaches to treatment. Utilizing patient samples to investigate vitamin D metabolism and receptor expression, translational research might center on gaining molecular knowledge of vitamin D’s impact on drug-resistant illnesses. If these methods work together, we may learn more about vitamin D’s function in fighting drug resistance and find better ways to use it therapeutically in the clinic.
Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
Related studies in VitaminDwiki
- Chemotherapy and vitamin D - many studies
- Hypertension not reduced by drugs (Resistant Hypertension) in patients with low vitamin D
- Vitamin D fights treatment-resistant cancers (petrie dish) – June 2019
- Tuberculosis (multi-drug resistant) was 13.4 X more likely to be quickly cleared with Vitamin D - Meta-analysis Feb 2019
- Vitamin D fights treatment-resistant cancers (petrie dish) – June 2019