Vitamin D Endocrinology

Abstract

Current status of our understanding of the metabolism of vitamin D and its implications in metabolic bone disease is reviewed. The details of metabolism of vitamin D₃ to 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ in the liver and its further conversion in the kidney to either 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ or 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ are presented. The latter conversions are regulated by the vitamin D status, serum calcium through the parathyroid gland system, and serum inorganic phosphorus concentration. The 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ can now be regarded as a calcium- and a phosphate-mobilizing hormone and must be considered as one of the most important serum calcium-regulating hormones. Disruption of the vitamin D metabolic sequence or the signal system for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ results in several bone and calcium metabolism disorders such as renal osteodystrophy, hypoparathyroidism, pseudohypoparathyroidism, and vitamin D-dependency rickets. The use of the synthetic analogs of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ as well as 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ itself in the management of these disease states is discussed.