Table 3.

Studies in animal models and in humans on the effects of vitamin D in SLE

Studies in animal models	Studies in humans
↓ autoantibodies production [136] ↓ skin ulceration, renal damage [137] ↓ cognitive dysfunction [139] ↓ arthritis [138] ↓ Th1, Th2, Th17 cells, ↑ Treg cells, ↓ IL-4, IL-17, and INF-γ [137]	In vitro studies: ↓ autoantibodies production [143] ↓ maturation and differentiation of DC cells (↓ CD40, MHC-II, and CD86 expression) [145] ↓ IFN-α [144] Clinical studies: ↑ Treg cells, ↓ Th17, Th1 cells, memory B cells [150] ↓ autoantibodies production [113, 150] ↓ disease activity [151] No effects on disease activity and serology [146–149]

DC Dendritic cell, MHC-II Major histocompatibility complex class II. ↓ indicates decrease, ↑ indicates increase