Abstract
Vitamin D is traditionally known for its role in regulating calcium homeostasis and consequently maintaining bone integrity and health. However, more recently, it has been observed that it has a series of previously unknown non-canonical functions, such as maintenance of immunity and intestinal mucosa integrity. Furthermore, it has been shown to be associated with the progression or perpetuation of several diseases since its serum concentration is reduced during the course of the conditions. Therefore, we sought to investigate, through a literature review, the usefulness of serum vitamin D measurement in dogs and cats as a prognostic factor for different diseases, as well as the possible therapeutic effect of supplementing this vitamin in the correction of those illnesses. Vitamin D is in fact deficient in gastroenteric diseases, such as protein-losing enteropathy, infectious diseases, such as canine leishmaniasis, heart and kidney disease, among others. However, it is necessary to understand more properly about the physiological role of vitamin D in health, so that we can also understand it in disease. There are also too few data reports supporting supplementing this vitamin as main or adjuvant therapy in the treatment of any disease, but evidence points to the usefulness of vitamin D serum measurement as a prognostic predictor for dogs and cats.
Highlights
Vitamin D, known as cholecalciferol, is an essential nutrient classically involved with calcium homeostasis (Chacar et al, 2020)
The descriptors selected to the research were “vitamin D metabolism in dogs and cats”, “vitamin D in disease in dogs and cats”, “vitamin D supplementation in dogs and cats”, “vitamin D and cardiovascular disease in dogs and cats”, “vitamin D and leishmaniasis in dogs and cats”, among others
Obtained from food intake, vitamin D is absorbed and transported along with a vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) through the circulation to the liver, where it undergoes a first hydroxylation reaction carried out by a 25-hydroxylase and it is converted to calcidiol (25(OH)D). 25(OH)D travels to the proximal tubules in the kidneys, where it is again hydroxylated by an 1α-hydroxylase to calcitriol (1,25(OH)2D), the hormonal biologically active form of vitamin D, which acts through cytoplasmic receptors
Summary
Vitamin D, known as cholecalciferol, is an essential nutrient classically involved with calcium homeostasis (Chacar et al, 2020). Thereby, vitamin D in those species is obtained exclusively in their diet (Uhl, 2018). Despite plenty is known about its canonic activity, it has recently been demonstrated that vitamin D has a larger protagonism than what we currently know, since its receptor is found in several non-skeletal tissues, highlighting its functions in different systems (Zafalon et al, 2020). Hyperexpression of vitamin D receptor (VDR) in skeletal muscle was able to promote activity of AKT signaling pathway, involved in protein synthesis activity (Bass et al, 2020). Calcitriol was able to reduce in vitro TNF:IL-10 ratio in whole blood obtained from ill dogs, characterizing an antiinflammatory status (Jaffey et al, 2018)
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