title: Vitamin D--what is normal according to latest research and how should we deal with it?
abstract: Vitamin D deficiency is a public health concern. Mediated by classical endocrine effects, vitamin D deficiency is causally linked with bone and calcium disorders. Non-endocrine actions of vitamin D are also widely recognised and these effects are mediated by local tissue activation of vitamin D bringing about intracrine effects in non-classical sites. Supported by large volumes of observational studies linking low circulating vitamin D with negative outcomes for many common disease states, there is growing interest that vitamin D may be central to the pathology and outcomes of many common diseases, including cardiovascular, cancer and autoimmune conditions. This article explores the quality of evidence linking vitamin D and various disease outcomes, and furthermore describes some of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of vitamin D action that may help explain some of the incongruity of data observed in observational versus interventional studies of vitamin D supplementation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, University Hospitals Birmingham and University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK neil.gittoes@uhb.nhs.uk.
authors.forename: Neil J L
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Gittoes
mesh_terms: D001327:Autoimmune Diseases; D002118:Calcium; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol; D014807:Vitamin D; D002118:Calcium
keywords: Vitamin D; cancer; cardiovascular mortality; osteomalacia; rickets; vitamin D receptor