The absorptive response to graded doses of vitamin D 3 , 25(OH)D, and 1,25(OH) 2 D was measured in healthy adult men after treatment periods of eight, four, and two weeks, respectively. While no relationship was found between baseline absorption and serum vitamin D metabolite levels, all three vitamin D compounds significantly elevated 45 Ca absorption from a 300 mg calcium load given as part of a standard test meal. 1,25(OH) 2 D was active even at the lowest dose (0.5 g/day), and the slope was such that doubling of absorption would occur at an oral dose of approximately 3 g/day. 25(OH)D was also active in elevating absorption and did so without raising total 1,25(OH) 2 D levels. On the basis of the dose response curves for For these reasons, we judged that the relative roles of vitamin D and its metabolites in the normal calcium economy needed to be re-evaluated. Accordingly, the purposes of the present study were 1) to determine the dose-response relationships of vitamin D and its principal metabolites, using calcium absorption efficiency in healthy young adults as the response variable; 2) to compare the findings with the earlier, provocative results of Colodro et al. (9); and 3) to estimate the relative contributions of 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH) 2 D to calcium absorption under physiological conditions.
Subjects and Methods SubjectsThe subjects were men who were free of health problems and who took no medications known to affect calcium metabolism or skeletal physiology, as determined by interview. To limit the effects of nonstudy sources of vitamin D, we performed the tests in midwinter and excluded candidates who either reported usual milk consumption of more than 0.47 L/day (16 fl oz/day) or who would be exposed to sunlight (via travel to a sunny climate) during the study or in the preceding month. We accepted several candidates who regularly used daily multivitamins (typically containing 10 g of vitamin D, equivalent to 400 IU), but who agreed to abstain from them during their participation in the study and for at least one week before entering it. The Creighton University Institutional Review Board approved the protocol, and each subject gave informed consent. After entering, two subjects withdrew for personal reasons. The 116 who finished the study included two Hispanics, three blacks, five subjects of Asian origin, and 106 whites. Table 1 presents data