Vitamin D2 is as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D

[Guest guest]

Colleagues, the following is FYI and does not necessarily reflect my own

opinion. I have no further knowledge of the topic. If you do not wish to

receive these posts, set your email filter to filter out any messages

coming from @nutritionucanlivewith.com and the program will remove

anything coming from me.

---------------------------------------------------------

Public release date: 2-Jan-2008

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/bu-vdi010208.php

Contact:

michelle.roberts@...

Boston University

Vitamin D2 is as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining concentrations

of 25-hydroxyvitamin D

Boston, MA— Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM)

have found that vitamin D2 is equally as effective as vitamin D3 in

maintaining 25-hydroxyvitamin D status. The study appears online in the

December 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Researchers studied healthy adults aged 18-84 who received either

placebo, 1,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D3, 1,000 IU of

vitamin D2, or 500 IU of vitamin D2 plus 500 IU of vitamin D3 daily for

three months at the end of winter to establish what effect it had on

circulating levels of total 25 (OH)D as well as 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3.

Sixty percent of the adults were vitamin D deficient at the start of the

study.

Adults who received the placebo capsule daily for three months

demonstrated no significant change in their total 25(OH)D levels during

the winter and early spring. Adults who ingested 1,000 vitamin D2/d

gradually increased their total 25(OH)D levels during the first six

weeks. Adults who ingested 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 had a baseline 25(OH)D

that was statistically no different from the baselines of either the

placebo group or the groups that took 1,000 IU of vitamin D2/d or 500 IU

vitamin D2 plus 500 IU vitamin D3/d. The vitamin D3 group increased

their serum 25(OH)D levels similar to that of the group that ingested

vitamin D2.

The circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D increased to the same

extent in the groups that received 1,000 IU daily as vitamin D2, vitamin

D3, or a combination of 500 IU vitamin D2 and 500 IU vitamin D3. The

25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels did not change in the group that received

1,000 IU vitamin D2 daily. One thousand IU of vitamin D2 or vitamin D3

did not raise 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in vitamin D deficient subjects

above 30 ng/ml.

According to BUSM researchers, vitamin D2 has been the main stay for the

prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency in children and adults

and as little as 100 IU of vitamin D2 was found to be effective in the

prevention of rickets. Both vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 form

25-hydroxyvitamin D.

Holick, PhD, MD, director of the General Clinical Research

Center and professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at BUSM and

senior author of this study, is an internationally recognized expert in

vitamin D and skin research. Most recently, he gave the keynote address

to the Indian Endocrine Society in India.

“The maintenance of the serum 25(OH)D3 levels was most likely due to the

release of vitamin D3 stored in the body fat since skin synthesis of

vitamin D3 does not occur during the winter in Boston,” said Holick, who

is also director of the Bone Healthcare Clinic and the vitamin D, Skin

and Bone Research Laboratory at Boston University Medical Center.

“One thousand IU of vitamin D2 daily was as effective as 1,000 IU of

vitamin D3 in maintaining serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and did not

negatively influence serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels,” said Holick.

“Therefore, vitamin D2 is equally as effective as vitamin D3 in

maintaining 25-hydroxyvitamin D status.”

###

Quest Diagnostics, the nation’s leading provider of diagnostics testing,

information and services, analyzed the specimens used in the study.

For more information on Boston University Medical Center, please visit

http://www.bumc.bu.edu/.

--

ne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar@... >

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/