TY - JOUR
T1 - The roles of vitamin D and cutaneous vitamin D production in human evolution and health
AU - Jablonski, Nina G.
AU - Chaplin, George
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to Professor Megan Brickley for inviting us to participate in the symposium on Vitamin D in paleopathology held at the Paleopathology Association meetings in New Orleans in April 2017. We thank Theresa (Tess) Wilson for research support, maintaining our bibliographic database, creating Fig. 1, and preparing the manuscript for submission. The constructive and detailed suggestions of anonymous reviewers and editors allowed us to make revisions that strengthened this paper considerably.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2018/12
Y1 - 2018/12
N2 - Most of the vitamin D necessary for the maintenance of human health and successful reproduction is made in the skin under the influence of a narrow portion of the electromagnetic spectrum emitted from the sun, namely ultraviolet B radiation (UVB). During the course of human evolution, skin pigmentation has evolved to afford protection against high levels of UVR while still permitting cutaneous production of vitamin D. Similar pigmentation phenotypes evolved repeatedly as the result of independent genetic events when isolated human populations dispersed into habitats of extremely low or high UVB. The gradient of skin color seen in modern human populations is evidence of the operation of two clines, one favoring photoprotection near the equator, the other favoring vitamin D production nearer the poles. Through time, human adaptations to different solar regimes have become more cultural than biological. Rapid human migrations, increasing urbanization, and changes in lifestyle have created mismatches between skin pigmentation and environmental conditions leading to vitamin D deficiency. The prevalence and significance for health of vitamin D deficiencies, and the definition of optimal levels of vitamin D in the bloodstream are subjects of intense research and debate, but two of the causes of vitamin D deficiency – lack of sun exposure and abandonment of vitamin D rich foods in the diet – are traceable to changes in human lifestyles accompanying urbanization in prehistory.
AB - Most of the vitamin D necessary for the maintenance of human health and successful reproduction is made in the skin under the influence of a narrow portion of the electromagnetic spectrum emitted from the sun, namely ultraviolet B radiation (UVB). During the course of human evolution, skin pigmentation has evolved to afford protection against high levels of UVR while still permitting cutaneous production of vitamin D. Similar pigmentation phenotypes evolved repeatedly as the result of independent genetic events when isolated human populations dispersed into habitats of extremely low or high UVB. The gradient of skin color seen in modern human populations is evidence of the operation of two clines, one favoring photoprotection near the equator, the other favoring vitamin D production nearer the poles. Through time, human adaptations to different solar regimes have become more cultural than biological. Rapid human migrations, increasing urbanization, and changes in lifestyle have created mismatches between skin pigmentation and environmental conditions leading to vitamin D deficiency. The prevalence and significance for health of vitamin D deficiencies, and the definition of optimal levels of vitamin D in the bloodstream are subjects of intense research and debate, but two of the causes of vitamin D deficiency – lack of sun exposure and abandonment of vitamin D rich foods in the diet – are traceable to changes in human lifestyles accompanying urbanization in prehistory.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.01.005
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.01.005
M3 - Review article
C2 - 29606375
AN - SCOPUS:85044610950
SN - 1879-9817
VL - 23
SP - 54
EP - 59
JO - International Journal of Paleopathology
JF - International Journal of Paleopathology
ER -