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The Essential Guide to Vitamin D first discusses vitamin D receptor, a member of the superfamily of nuclear steroid/thyroid hormone receptors that can be found in both the cytoplasm and nucleus. It acts mainly as a ligand-dependent DNA-binding transcriptional factor mediating the actions of the biological active form of vitamin D (VD), the metabolite 1α,25[OH]2D3. Vitamin D has a complex role in the human body. Beside the classical effects in bone mineralization, a significant amount of data regarding the role of this vitamin in cell differentiation, defense mechanism, allergy, inflammation, metabolism and hormonal regulation continue to accumulate. As such, the relevance of these effects for lung disorders is under investigation. Vitamin D is a hormone with pleiotropic effects; it controls calcium homeostasis, immune response, and hemodynamic wall stress. In the last decade, numerous studies have focused on the role of vitamin D levels in cardiovascular disease. In particular, it has been shown that insufficient Vitamin D levels are frequently observed among patients with cardiovascular disease. Additionally, calcitriol, which is also called 1, 25-dihydroxy vitamin D3, is involved in several physiological processes maintaining balanced bone turnover and a healthy bone microenvironment. The beneficial effects of vitamin D on bone biomechanical features are not exclusively attributable to the reduction in non-mineralized bone matrix, but to the osteocyte number and their connectivity, too. Studies have reported that Vitamin D is essential for recovery of hospitalized patients as they are at increased risk of developing/worsening vitamin D deficiency due to lack of availability of sources of the vitamin. Various cognitive disorders have also been associated with hypovitaminosis D. Vitamin D has also been proposed as a risk-modifying factor for many chronic diseases, including multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, cognitive issues, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, psoriasis, and other autoimmune diseases. Vitamin D deficiency is the main cause of osteoporosis and osteomalacia in adults and rickets in children. The low serum of this vitamin is common in patients suffering from cardiovascular, autoimmune, cancer, psoriasis, depression and atherosclerosis disorder. The highly sensitive nature of vitamin D to environmental factors including light, heat, and oxygen, as well as hydrophobicity and acid labile nature, are the major drawbacks that need to be addressed for development of an efficient formulation for vitamin D.

In Vitamin D: Physiology, Molecular Biology, and Clinical Applications, Second Edition, leading researchers provide a comprehensive, highly readable overview of the biological functions and clinical applications of vitamin D and its metabolites. Topics range from the most recent recommendations for vitamin D intake to new approaches for the treatment and prevention of vitamin D deficiency and the development of active vitamin D drugs to treat psoriasis and cancer. The book demonstrates the significant role that vitamin D has in maintaining good bone health and the prevention of osteoporosis, an important health problem for adults over the age of fifty. In addition, it authoritatively reviews the relationship between sunlight exposure, vitamin D, and increased risk of colon and breast cancer; how vitamin D is made in the skin; and the sequence of events that leads to its activation by the kidney. Also examined are the biological functions of 1,25-dihydrovitamin D3 on the intestine and bone, as well as other tissues, such as skin, the immune system, prostate, and breast, and vitamin D's molecular mechanism of action on the cell membrane and nucleus. The first edition of Vitamin D: Physiology, Molecular Biology and Clinical Applications was the benchmark in the field when published in 1999. This new and expanded volume continues to include extensive, in-depth chapters covering the most important aspects of the complex interactions between vitamin D and other dietary components, the ongoing debate concerning the best indicator of optimal vitamin D status and its nutrient requirements, and the impact of less than optimal status on disease risk. Vitamin D: Physiology, Molecular Biology, and Clinical Applications, Second Edition is designed and organized not only to be an up-to-date review on the subject, but also to provide medical students, graduate students, health care professionals and even the lay public with a reference source for the most up-to-date information about the vitamin D deficiency pandemic and its clinical implications for health and disease.