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Presence of 25(OH)D deficiency and its effect on vitamin D receptor mRNA expression

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 63, pages 446–449 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Background and objectives:

Vitamin D and its metabolites act through vitamin D receptor (VDR). We hypothesized that subjects with low serum 25(OH)D levels but normal PTH might have increased VDR expression.

Design and Methods:

VDRmRNA expression was assessed by real time PCR in duodenal mucosa and PBMC (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) in 45 subjects with normal duodenoscopy and in PBMC alone in 48 healthy volunteers with hypovitaminosis D. 25(OH)D, PTH and VDRmRNA expression in PBMC was reassessed after 8 weeks of oral cholecalciferol (60 000 IU per week) in a subset (n=23) of healthy volunteers.

Results and Conclusions:

The VDRmRNA expressions in the duodenum and PBMC were significantly correlated (r=0.42), but the expression was 13 times higher in the former than the latter. The mean VDRmRNA expression was similar in 25(OH)D-deficient subjects with or without PTH elevation, both in the duodenum and PBMC. The PBMC VDRmRNA expression showed no significant change after cholecalciferol supplementation. A weak correlation coefficient between duodenal mucosa and PBMC VDRmRNA suggests that caution needs to be exercised while using the latter as a surrogate for other sites.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Dr Promod Garg, Associate Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, AIIMS, New Delhi for providing duodenal mucosal biopsies and acknowledge the financial support from the Indian Council of Medical research and Department of Biotechnology during the study. There is no conflict of interest in the study among the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Endocrinology and Metabolism, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    R Goswami, N Tomar, D Ray & N Gupta

  2. Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    A M Mondal & P Chattopadhyay

  3. Department of Biostatistics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    V Sreenivas

Authors
  1. R Goswami
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  2. A M Mondal
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  3. N Tomar
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  4. D Ray
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  5. P Chattopadhyay
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  6. N Gupta
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  7. V Sreenivas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R Goswami.

Additional information

Contributors: All the authors contributed to the design of the study. RG wrote the manuscript and performed VDR mRNA expression studies and biochemical estimations and supervised the study. PC standardized the real time expression studies. MM and NT performed the real time PCR assay. DR extracted the RNA from duodenal tissue and performed biochemical assays including calcium estimation. NG performed the assay for 25(OH)D and intact PTH. VS analyzed the study data.

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Goswami, R., Mondal, A., Tomar, N. et al. Presence of 25(OH)D deficiency and its effect on vitamin D receptor mRNA expression. Eur J Clin Nutr 63, 446–449 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2008.29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2008.29

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