title: Skin content of 7-dehydrocholesterol in patients with malabsorption.
abstract: The mechanism for the development of vitamin D deficiency in patients with malabsorption remains unclear. We wished to examine the hypothesis that one factor was a reduced skin content of 7-dehydrocholesterol, the precursor for the formation of vitamin D in the presence of ultraviolet radiation. We measured 7-dehydrocholesterol in skin samples from 9 patients who had previously had vitamin D deficiency due to malabsorption (6 with Crohn's disease, 2 with primary biliary cirrhosis, and 1 with idiopathic pseudo-obstruction). We found no evidence of reduced levels of 7-dehydrocholesterol in the skin in these patients. Lack of 7-dehydrocholesterol does not contribute to vitamin D deficiency in malabsorption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, Scotland.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Paterson
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Moody
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Pennington
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000378:metabolism; D003684:Dehydrocholesterols / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008105:Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / Q000378:metabolism; D008286:Malabsorption Syndromes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012867:Skin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000378:metabolism; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003684:Dehydrocholesterols; D014807:Vitamin D; D002784:Cholesterol; C016705:7-dehydrocholesterol