Clinical Information

Vitamin D is a generic designation for a group of fat-soluble, structurally similar sterols, which act as hormones. In the presence of renal disease or hypercalcemia, testing of 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D (DHVD) may be needed to adequately assess vitamin D status. The 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25HDN) test (25HDN / 25-Hydroxyvitamin D2 and D3, Serum) in serum is otherwise the preferred initial test for assessing vitamin D status and most accurately reflects the body's vitamin D stores.

Vitamin D compounds in the body are exogenously derived by dietary means from plants as 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 (ergocalciferol or calciferol) or from animal products as 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (cholecalciferol or calcidiol). Vitamin D may also be endogenously derived by conversion of 7-dihydrocholesterol to 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in the skin upon ultraviolet exposure.

The 25-hydroxyvitamin D is subsequently formed by hydroxylation by CYP2R1 in the liver. 25HDN is a prohormone that represents the main reservoir and transport form of vitamin D, being stored in adipose tissue and tightly bound by a transport protein while in circulation. Biological activity is expressed in the form of DHVD, the active metabolite of 25HDN. 1-Alpha-hydroxylation by CYP27B1 occurs on demand, primarily in the kidneys, under the control of parathyroid hormone (PTH) before expressing biological activity. Like other steroid hormones, DHVD binds to a nuclear receptor, influencing gene transcription patterns in target organs.

25-hydroxyvitamin D may also be converted into the inactive metabolite 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (24,25D) by alternative hydroxylation by CYP24A1. This process, regulated by PTH, might increase DHVD synthesis at the expense of the alternative CYP24A1 hydroxylation product 24,25D. Inactivation of 25HDN and DHVD by CYP24A1 is a crucial process that prevents over production of DHVD and resultant vitamin D toxicity.

1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D stimulates calcium absorption in the intestine and its production is tightly regulated through concentrations of serum calcium, phosphorus, and PTH. DHVD promotes intestinal calcium absorption and, in concert with PTH, skeletal calcium deposition or, less commonly, calcium mobilization. Renal calcium and phosphate reabsorption are also promoted, while prepro-PTH mRNA expression in the parathyroid glands is downregulated. The net result is a positive calcium balance, increasing serum calcium and phosphate levels, and falling PTH concentrations.

In addition to its effects on calcium and bone metabolism, DHVD regulates the expression of a multitude of genes in many other tissues including immune cells, muscle, vasculature, and reproductive organs.

1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D levels are decreased in hypoparathyroidism and in chronic renal failure. DHVD levels may be high in primary hyperparathyroidism and in physiologic hyperparathyroidism secondary to low calcium or vitamin D intake. Some patients with granulomatous diseases (eg, sarcoidosis) and malignancies containing nonregulated 1-alpha hydroxylase in the lesion might have hypercalcemia that appears vitamin D mediated with normal or high serum phosphate (hyperphosphatemia) and hypercalcemia (both of which might be severe) in addition to low PTH and absent parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHRP). Assessment of 24,25D might also be required in patients with hypercalcemia that does not appear to be driven by PTH or PTHRP and may be helpful in assessment of patients with loss of function inactivating CYP24A1 mutations. Differential diagnostic considerations include vitamin D intoxication and CYP24A1 deficiency.