There is increasing interest in vitamin D nutrition during pregnancy because of widespread reports of a high prevalence of low vitamin D status in pregnant women. While vitamin D is important for calcium and phosphorus homeostasis and for bone health, it also plays important roles in many other physiologic functions in the body. Consistent with the expanded role of vitamin D, recent observation...

since early works on isolation and characterization of vitamin D by Elmer Verner McCollum and Edward Mellanby in 1900s, this molecule still seems mysterious (1-2). After several decades since discovery of the miraculous effect of cod liver oil in treatment of nutritional rickets, escalating number of reports provide a huge body of evidence for various effects of vitamin D ...

The prevalence of low vitamin D status in the elderly population of subtropical area and the potential risk/protective factors have not been addressed. This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study, which collected demographic/anthropometric data and information on diet habit and sun exposure, recruited 170 subjects with mean age 70.9±5.6 in rural areas of southern Taiwan. Serum 25-OH vitamin ...

During pregnancy, maternal and fetal Ca demands are met through increased intestinal Ca absorption. Increased Ca absorption may be more dependent on oestrogen’s up-regulation of Ca transport genes than on vitamin D status. Numerous studies, however, have found that severe vitamin D deficiency with secondary hyperparathyroidism during pregnancy leads to abnormal Ca homoeostasis in the neonate. S...

Background and Objectives: Reports indicate that hypovitaminosis D is extremely common worldwide and is re-emerging as a major health problem globally. In the present study, the main objectives were: 1) to examine whether healthy men and women living in Ahvaz have adequate vitamin D status; 2) to assess association between vitamin D status and some cardiometabolic risk factors. Materials and M...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Vitamin K, vitamin K-dependent proteins, and vitamin D may be involved in the regulation of calcification in chronic kidney disease (CKD). DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS Vitamin K and D status was measured as dietary intake, plasma phylloquinone, serum percent uncarboxylated osteocalcin (%ucOC), proteins induced by vitamin K absence (PIVKA-II), Vitamin...

In recent years, there have been reports suggesting a high prevalence of low vitamin D intakes and vitamin D deficiency or inadequate vitamin D status in Europe. Coupled with growing concern about the health risks associated with low vitamin D status, this has resulted in increased interest in the topic of vitamin D from healthcare professionals, the media and the public. Adequate vitamin D sta...

We thankWeir and Borek (1) for the thorough reading of our article (2). Weir and Borek mention the limitations of the use of a single vitamin D measurement despite the potential individual variations in vitamin D status. This is a valid point because a single vitamin D measurement at baseline may lose predictive power over time. However, the estimates were very similar, when we only included a ...

The main source of vitamin D for Australians is exposure to sunlight. Thus, levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3), the indicator of vitamin D status, vary according to the season and are lower at the end of winter. In Australia and New Zealand, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency varies, but is acknowledged to be much higher than previously thought. One study found marginal deficiency in 23...