Oliver Gillie's reports on Vitamin D's benefits available online

By the way, although I believe the above reports make an important case for the involvement of low levels of Vitamin D3 in the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis and other "autoimmune" diseases, IMHO, the expert researchers on Vitamin D3 may also be missing much of the reason for this, namely the importance of Vitamin D3 in controlling or preventing the infections that have been linked with these diseases.  

The article above mentions the antimicrobial peptides (cathelicidins) that so require Vit D3 for their production, but it really only mentions these cathelicidins in reference to tuberculosis.   The article also mentions Vit D3's importance for normal cellular apoptosis, but again it only mentions this in reference to cancer.  

IMHO, these researchers may be missing the importance of these two (and probably other) effects of Vit D3 in in controlling infections that may cause disease.   As we are aware, Vit D3 may influence levels of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection through its effects on the ability of the Chlamydia pneumoniae to prevent apotosis (and replicate protected inside a cell) for instance.   And cathelicidins may be important in keeping the henchmen Herpes viruses dormant, where they belong.

These researchers also don't seem to ever mention the relatively recently discovered importance of Leukotriene B4 for the induction of cathelicidins upon immune system detection of pathogens. What effects did the introduction of modern medicines that block the production of Leukotriene B4 so well and therefore significantly reduce the induction of already reduced levels of cathelicidins (due to low levels of Vit D3) upon immune system detection of pathogens have on disease rates?    I wonder...

Although I have no medical background, I personally believe the pathogenesis of many of the "autoimmune" diseases that these researchers point to heavy involvement of low levels of Vit D3 in their pathogenesis may actually be far more complex than these researchers realize.    Still, bless these researchers for the efforts!

Red- thanks for your quick summary of the Vitamin D web here in terms of Cpn. Because of your interest in Leucotrines related to rosacea, you probably have a better grasp on this than any of us of these interactions.