Vitamin D in the treatment of osteoporosis revisited.
Interest in vitamin D treatment for osteoporosis has recently been revived because of the focus in various parts of the world on the elderly population, which is predominantly vitamin D deficient, in addition to postmenopausal osteoporosis due to estrogen withdrawal, which has been the central theme of osteoporosis research for many years. Combined use of other agents along with vitamin D has fortified the therapeutic armory against osteoporosis. The recent suggestion of a role of vitamin D receptor polymorphism in the development and progress of osteoporosis, possibly by interfering with its expected action, provoked intense discussions on the role of vitamin D in the pathogenesis and treatment of osteoporosis. Vitamin D receptor polymorphism may explain some of the racial differences in the incidence of osteoporosis and its complications. Responses to vitamin D treatment may also be predicted by vitamin D receptor allelic analysis, though the currently proposed allelic patterns are yet far from being widely accepted. The outlook for vitamin D treatment for osteoporosis may require insight into vitamin D receptor, not only for vitamin D's given form, but also for a possible future form designed to intervene at the genomic level.
Fujita
T
T
Calcium Research Institute, Osaka, Japan.
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism; D000483:Alleles; D015519:Bone Density / Q000187:drug effects; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000502:physiology; D004357:Drug Synergism; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004967:Estrogens / Q000502:physiology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000188:drug therapy; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000502:physiology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013472:Sunlight; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D004967:Estrogens; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol; D014807:Vitamin D; D002116:Calcitonin; D002117:Calcitriol