Vitamin D3 induces stem cell activation via Lgr5-Bmi1 expression and improving mouse colitis histology index.

Conventional therapy for inflammatory bowel disease using long-term anti-inflammatory drugs does not seem to provide optimal results. Adjuvant therapy using vitamin D3 is believed to have an essential role in repairing the colonic mucosa through the activation of colonic stem cells. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effect of vitamin D3 in mucosal repair through stem cell activation, marked by leucin-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) and B lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 (Bmi1) expression and decrease the mouse colitis histology index (MCHI) score.