There are currently 13 recognized essential vitamins, two of which are A and D. Vitamin A is typically linked to eye health, while vitamin D is most closely associated with bone health.
However, both vitamins have also been linked to supporting other areas of the body, such as immune system regulation, cellular growth, and lung function.
Now, a new study published in the journal Thorax has found that vitamins A and D may also help improve lung function in both children and adults with asthma, and vitamin D may also help slow biological lung cell aging in adults.
For this study, researchers analyzed health data from almost 1,200 children in the Genetic Epidemiology of Asthma in Costa Rica (GACRS) study and about 1,000 adults in the Omic Determinants of Longitudinal Lung Function in Asthma (ODOLLFA) study.
Study participants had their vitamin A and D levels measured, along with an assessment of their lung health and function.
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“There is already strong evidence that vitamin D supports lung health, while the evidence for vitamin A has been more mixed,” Rinku Sharma, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Mass General Brigham at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts, and lead author of this study, told Medical News Today.
“Because these two vitamins share important biological pathways involved in immune function and tissue maintenance, we wanted to study them together. We were also interested in whether they influence epigenetic aging, since better lung health is closely linked with healthier aging and longer survival,” she said.
“As we age, lung health is one of the strongest predictors of overall health and survival,” added Michael McGeachie, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Mass General Brigham at Harvard Medical School, and senior author of this study.
“Understanding how nutrition influences lung function could help identify simple, accessible strategies to maintain healthier lungs, particularly for people with chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma.”
— Michael McGeachie, PhD
At the study’s conclusion, researchers found that children and adults with asthma who had higher vitamin A levels had better lung function than those with lower levels.
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“Our findings add to growing evidence that vitamin A may play an important role in maintaining lung health in people with asthma,” McGeachie explained to MNT. “Observing this association consistently in both children and adults strengthens the evidence that adequate vitamin A status may help preserve lung function across different stages of life.”
When it came to vitamin D, scientists found that higher levels also helped improve lung function in adults with asthma. Additionally, researchers report finding less evidence of epigenetic aging.
“These findings reinforce previous research showing that maintaining adequate vitamin D levels is associated with better lung function,” Sharma said. “We also found that individuals with higher vitamin D levels showed less evidence of accelerated epigenetic aging, suggesting that vitamin D may contribute not only to healthier lungs but also to healthier biological aging.”
“While our study does not prove cause and effect, it provides additional evidence supporting the importance of maintaining sufficient vitamin D levels,” she added.
When MNT asked the researchers what it might be about vitamins A and D that allows them to provide lung health benefits, they replied that one of the most exciting findings from our study is that these benefits appear to be partly mediated through epigenetic mechanisms.
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“We found that microRNAs and DNA methylation, two important regulators of gene activity, play a role in how vitamins A and D influence lung health,” McGeachie explained. “These vitamins are also known to regulate immune responses, reduce inflammation, and support the maintenance and repair of lung tissue, which together may help preserve healthy lung function.”
Sharma said the next step in their research is to investigate how genetic variation interacts with vitamins A and D and with epigenetic regulation to influence lung health and aging.
“By integrating genetics, epigenetics, and nutrition, we hope to better understand why some individuals benefit more than others and ultimately identify personalized strategies to promote healthy lung aging,” she added.
MNT spoke with Khaled Abu-Ihweij, MD, a pulmonologist with Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey, about this study, who commented that his first reaction to its findings was one of cautious optimism.
“It’s encouraging to see robust research exploring the connection between nutrition and lung health, as it’s a frequent topic of conversation with my patients,” Abu-Ihweij, who was not involved in this study, explained.
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“It is critical to remember this study shows an association, not a direct cause,” he said. “It’s a strong signal, but we must see more evidence before changing clinical recommendations.”
Abu-Ihweij said the essential next step in this research is to establish causality.
“This observational study provides a strong foundation, but we now need an interventional, randomized controlled trial,” he continued. “This idea of lung age is new, so more research is necessary to confirm these findings and translate them into reliable clinical advice for patients.”
MNT also spoke with Jimmy Johannes, MD, a pulmonologist and critical care medicine specialist at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, CA, who likewise was not involved in this study.
Johannes commented that this study reaffirms the previously described association between vitamin A and D levels and lung health in those with asthma.
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“Unique to this study is the association between these vitamin levels and molecular markers of aging,” he continued.
“The authors suggest that vitamin A and vitamin D may confer beneficial effects on the lungs for those with asthma through their effects on epigenetic markers of aging. For those with asthma, this study suggests that adequate vitamin A and D levels may help keep the lungs youthful, at least on a molecular level.”
— Jimmy Johannes, MD
Johannes said he also believes there is still much to learn about nutrition and lung health.
“More research is needed to better understand what components of our nutrition can help optimize lung function in a healthy individual and with various lung diseases,” he explained. “If improved nutrition and various nutrients can help with lung health, we can use this information to better manage various lung conditions, like asthma.”
