title: Investigation of the effects of vitamin D and calcium on intestinal motility: In vitro tests and implications for clinical treatment.
abstract: The presence of vitamin D receptors in small intestine muscle cells may lead one to think that vitamin D may act locally, influencing intracellular calcium concentration and contributing to the contraction-relaxation regulation of the intestinal smooth muscle cells. This study investigates the potential effects of vitamin D and calcium on intestinal motility using an in vitro test. Different calcium concentrations added to the tissue not pre-treated with 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [1α,25(OH)2D3] produced no response at low doses (1.25 × 10-3 and 2.0 × 10-3 mol L-1) and only a very weak response at higher concentration (3.0 × 10-3 mol L-1). The addition of 1α,25(OH)2D3 (1.44 × 10-10 mol L-1) had no effect on isolated ileum motility. When calcium (3.0 × 10-3 mol L-1) was added after at least 3 hours, it evoked evident and persistent contractions for 60-90 minutes. The contractions were at about 40 % of the peak produced by acetylcholine. Thus, simultaneous intake of vitamin D and calcium might be a useful co-adjuvant in intestinal atony therapy aimed to stimulate normal gut motility in humans. These findings imply that supplemental vitamin D may be important in all cases where calcium has to be prescribed.
authors.forename: Guglielmo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giraldi
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fioravanti
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Luca d'Alessandro
authors.forename: Maura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palmery
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martinoli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000187:drug effects*; D007422:Intestines / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000378:metabolism; D013552:Swine; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol; D014807:Vitamin D; D002117:Calcitriol; D002118:Calcium