This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Cholecalciferol is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Cholecalciferol | |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| IUPAC name | (3β,5Z,7E)-9,10-secocholesta- 5,7,10(19)-trien-3-ol |
| Other names | vitamin D3, activated 7-dehydrocholesterol. |
| Identifiers | |
| CAS number | [67-97-0] |
| EINECS number | |
| SMILES |
|
| Properties | |
| Molecular formula | C27H44O |
| Molar mass | 384.64 g/mol |
| Appearance | White, needle-like crystals |
| Melting point |
83–86 °C |
| Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa) Infobox references |
|
Cholecalciferol is a form of Vitamin D, also called vitamin D3. It is structurally similar to steroids such as testosterone, cholesterol, and cortisol (though vitamin D3 itself is a secosteroid).
1g of pure vitamin D3 is 40 000 000 (40x106) IU, or in other words, one IU is 0.025 μg.
Contents |
Forms
Cholecalciferol has several forms:
- Calciol [1], is an inactive, unhydroxylated form of vitamin D3)
- calcidiol (also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D3), is the blood calcium form
- calcitriol (also called 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3), is the active form of D3.
Metabolism
7-Dehydrocholesterol is the precursor of vitamin D3 and only forms the vitamin after being exposed to solar UV radiation. This creates calciol.
Calciol is then hydroxylated in the liver to become calcidiol.
Next, calcidiol is once again hydroxylated, this time in the kidney, and becomes calcitriol. Calcitriol is the active hormone form of vitamin D3; for this reason vitamin D is often referred to as a prohormone.
As food fortification
Cholecalciferol is the form of vitamin D normally added during fortification of foods.citation needed Cholecalciferol is produced industrially by the irradiation of 7-dehydrocholesterol extracted from lanolin found in sheep's wool. In products where animal products are not desired, the alternative is to use ergocalciferol (also known as vitamin D2) derived from the fungal sterol ergosterol.
Dose
Healthy individuals absorb cholecalciferol and ergocalciferol approximately equally well[2], and while initial reports suggested that vitamin D3 was more potent in humans, the same journal has published newer research which contradicts those initial reports.[2] [3] The human body does not tolerate vitamin D3 as well as vitamin D2citation needed, limiting the maximum efficacy of vitamin D3 supplementation compared to vitamin D2. Cholecalciferol is synthesized by the bone marrow of the skeletal system. Hepatic synthesis of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol is only loosely regulated, and blood levels of this molecule largely reflect the amount of vitamin D produced in the skin or ingested. In contrast, the activity of 1-alpha-hydroxylase in the kidney is tightly regulated and serves as the major control point in production of the active hormone.
Stability
Cholecalciferol is very sensitive to UV radiation and will rapidly, but reversibly break down to form supra-sterols, which can further irreversibly convert to tachysterol.
Therapeutic Application
A 2008 study published in Cancer Research has shown the addition of vitamin D3 (along with calcium) to the diet of mice fed a regimen nutritionally similar to a new Western diet prevented colon cancer development.[4]
Alternative Views
There's a minority view, often associated with Trevor Marshall, which asserts that low levels of 25D are often due to overconversion into calcitriol because of chronic infection rather than 25D deficiency. [1]
See also
- Hypervitaminosis D, Vitamin D poisoning
- Ergocalciferol, vitamin D2.
- 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 1-alpha-Hydroxylase, a kidney enzyme that converts calcidiol to calcitriol.
References
- ^ online medical dictionary
- ^ a b Armas L, Hollis B, Heaney R (2004). "Vitamin D2 is much less effective than vitamin D3 in humans". J Clin Endocrinol Metab 89 (11): 5387–91. doi:. PMID 15531486 Cholecalciferol is synthesized by the bone marrow of the skeletal system..
- ^ "Vitamin D2 is as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining circulating concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin-D "Context: Two reports suggested that vitamin D2 is less effective than vitamin D3 in maintaining vitamin D status"" (2007). J Clin Endocrinol Metab.
- ^ "Dietary Induction of Colonic Tumors in a Mouse Model of Sporadic Colon Cancer "Context: Colonic tumors were prevented by elevating dietary calcium and vitamin D3 to levels comparable with upper levels consumed by humans"" (2008). Cancer Research.
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 10 October 2008, at 03:34.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Cholecalciferol".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.