title: Evidence-based non-skeletal actions of vitamin D.
abstract: Vitamin D is a major regulator of mineral homeostasis through its action in the kidney, intestine, bone and parathyroid glands. On these tissues, its active form, calcitriol, acts by binding to a specific nuclear receptor that belongs to the steroid/thyroid hormone receptor family. This receptor, however, has also been identified in several additional human tissues. So, apart from its traditional actions related to calcium, vitamin D and its synthetic analogs are being increasingly recognized for their anti-proliferative, pro-differentiative and immunomodulatory activities. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to many chronic diseases. Decreased muscle function and increased fall risk in elderly people; prostate, breast and colorectal cancers; diabetes mellitus; and other health problems have been associated to low circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. This paper presents an overview of the available scientific evidence for the non-calcemic actions of vitamin D in humans.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Muszkat
authors.forename: Marilia Brasilio Rodrigues
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Camargo
authors.forename: Luiz Henrique Maciel
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Griz
authors.forename: Marise
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lazaretti-Castro
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000502:physiology; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; D002118:Calcium