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Clinical Trial
. 2003 Jan;77(1):204-10.
doi: 10.1093/ajcn/77.1.204.

Human serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol response to extended oral dosing with cholecalciferol

Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Human serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol response to extended oral dosing with cholecalciferol

Robert P Heaney et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Jan.

Erratum in

  • Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Nov;78(5):1047

Abstract

Background: The cholecalciferol inputs required to achieve or maintain any given serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol concentration are not known, particularly within ranges comparable to the probable physiologic supply of the vitamin.

Objectives: The objectives were to establish the quantitative relation between steady state cholecalciferol input and the resulting serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol concentration and to estimate the proportion of the daily requirement during winter that is met by cholecalciferol reserves in body tissue stores.

Design: Cholecalciferol was administered daily in controlled oral doses labeled at 0, 25, 125, and 250 micro g cholecalciferol for approximately 20 wk during the winter to 67 men living in Omaha (41.2 degrees N latitude). The time course of serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol concentration was measured at intervals over the course of treatment.

Results: From a mean baseline value of 70.3 nmol/L, equilibrium concentrations of serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol changed during the winter months in direct proportion to the dose, with a slope of approximately 0.70 nmol/L for each additional 1 micro g cholecalciferol input. The calculated oral input required to sustain the serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol concentration present before the study (ie, in the autumn) was 12.5 micro g (500 IU)/d, whereas the total amount from all sources (supplement, food, tissue stores) needed to sustain the starting 25-hydroxycholecalciferol concentration was estimated at approximately 96 micro g (approximately 3800 IU)/d. By difference, the tissue stores provided approximately 78-82 micro g/d.

Conclusions: Healthy men seem to use 3000-5000 IU cholecalciferol/d, apparently meeting > 80% of their winter cholecalciferol need with cutaneously synthesized accumulations from solar sources during the preceding summer months. Current recommended vitamin D inputs are inadequate to maintain serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol concentration in the absence of substantial cutaneous production of vitamin D.

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