4/2025
vol. 112
abstract:
Review article
Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Sociological Research Unit (SRU), Indian Statistical Institute, Giridih, Jharkhand, India
Dermatol Rev/Przegl Dermatol 2025, 112, 235–242
Online publish date: 2025/11/19
ENW
BIB
RIS
Papers, Reference Manager, RefWorks, Zotero
AMA
Maitra S, Bose A, Chatterjee D, Bandyopadhyay AR. Melanin and Vitamin D: Unravelling the Mechanism and
Coalition of Two Archaic Biomolecules in Human Evolution and Health. Dermatology Review/Przegląd Dermatologiczny. 2025;112(4):235-242. doi:10.5114/dr.2025.155989.
APA
Maitra, S., Bose, A., Chatterjee, D., & Bandyopadhyay, A. R. (2025). Melanin and Vitamin D: Unravelling the Mechanism and
Coalition of Two Archaic Biomolecules in Human Evolution and Health. Dermatology Review/Przegląd Dermatologiczny, 112(4), 235-242. https://doi.org/10.5114/dr.2025.155989
Chicago
Maitra, Sumit, Arkopala Bose, Diptendu Chatterjee, and Arup R Bandyopadhyay. 2025. “Melanin and Vitamin D: Unravelling the Mechanism and
Coalition of Two Archaic Biomolecules in Human Evolution and Health”. Dermatology Review/Przegląd Dermatologiczny 112 (4): 235-242. doi:10.5114/dr.2025.155989.
Harvard
Maitra, S., Bose, A., Chatterjee, D., and Bandyopadhyay, A. (2025). Melanin and Vitamin D: Unravelling the Mechanism and
Coalition of Two Archaic Biomolecules in Human Evolution and Health. Dermatology Review/Przegląd Dermatologiczny, 112(4), pp.235-242. https://doi.org/10.5114/dr.2025.155989
MLA
Maitra, Sumit et al. “Melanin and Vitamin D: Unravelling the Mechanism and
Coalition of Two Archaic Biomolecules in Human Evolution and Health.” Dermatology Review/Przegląd Dermatologiczny, vol. 112, no. 4, 2025, pp. 235-242. doi:10.5114/dr.2025.155989.
Vancouver
Maitra S, Bose A, Chatterjee D, Bandyopadhyay A. Melanin and Vitamin D: Unravelling the Mechanism and
Coalition of Two Archaic Biomolecules in Human Evolution and Health. Dermatology Review/Przegląd Dermatologiczny. 2025;112(4):235-242. doi:10.5114/dr.2025.155989.
Melanin and vitamin D share a unique relationship. Human skin pigmentation has changed throughout the course of evolution to provide protection from intense ultraviolet radiation (UVR) while still allowing for cutaneous vitamin D synthesis. Vitamin D is essential for maintaining human health, and its synthesis occurs in the skin upon exposure to ultraviolet B radiation. Moreover, when isolated human populations migrated to radically different climatic environments with exceptionally low or high UVB exposure, pigmentation phenotypes evolved repeatedly as a result of distinct genetic processes. Rapid changes in migratory patterns and lifestyle factors further contributed to variations in human skin pigmentation and, together with environmental influences, led to vitamin D deficiency. Against this backdrop, the present review aims to untangle the intertwined roles that two ancient biomolecules, melanin and vitamin D, have played in human evolution and health.
keywords:
vitamin D, melanin, evolution, depigmentation
