Re: more importantly...

John,

There is a difference of opinion then about what is and what is not a hormone and/or prehormone and steroid.
This is the generally accepted view of what this non-vitamin actually is......................

Technically not a "vitamin," vitamin D is in a class by itself. Its metabolic product, calcitriol, is actually a secosteroid hormone that targets over 2000 genes (about 10% of the human genome) in the human body.

Types of "Vitamin D"............
#1. Cholecalciferol is the naturally occurring form of vitamin D. Cholecalciferol is made in large quantities in your skin when sunlight strikes your bare skin. It can also be taken as a supplement.

#2. Calcidiol (25-hydroxyvitamin D) is a PREHORMONE in your blood that is directly made from cholecalciferol. When being tested for vitamin D deficiency, calcidiol is the only blood test that should be drawn. When someone refers to vitamin D blood levels, they are referring to calcidiol levels. Your doctor can order calcidiol levels but the lab will know calcidiol as 25-hydroxyvitamin D.

#3. Calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D) is made from calcidiol in both the kidneys and in other tissues and is the most potent STEROID HORMONE derived from cholecalciferol. Calcitriol has powerful anti-cancer properties. It is sometimes referred to as the active form of vitamin D. Calcitriol levels should never be used to determine if you are deficient in vitamin D.
Calcitriol is a potent steroid hormone, in fact, it is the most potent steroid hormone in the human body. A steroid hormone is simply any molecule in the body that is made from cholesterol and that acts to turn your genes on and off. They are always important to health, always need to be handled with care, and are often quite potent.

Calcitriol made by the kidneys circulates in the blood to maintain your blood calcium levels. Calcium is vital to the function of the cells in the body, without enough calcitriol in the blood calcium levels will fall and illness will set in. Therefore, the first priority for calcidiol is to go to the kidney where it makes enough calcitriol to secrete into the blood in order to regulate serum calcium.

Despite your limited studies on Vitamin D's immunosuppressive effects, there are an equal number of studies that demonstrate its immune-boosting effects.

Dr Marina Rode von Essen and colleagues from the University of Copenhagen and Bispebjerg Hospital in Denmark carried out this research. The researchers concluded that T cells produce vitamin D receptors when they are primed to respond to antigens. Vitamin D then acts via the receptor to stimulate production of phospholipase C-γ1. These changes are necessary for the T cells to be activated.
Vitamin D was shown to be involved in the activation of the T cells of the immune system.

Lead researcher Professor Carsten Geisler of Copenhagen University was quoted by 'The Daily Telegraph' as saying, "When a T-cell is exposed to a foreign pathogen, it extends a signaling device or 'antenna' known as a vitamin D receptor, with which it searches for vitamin D.
"This means that the T-cell must have vitamin D or activation of the cell will cease. If the T-cells cannot find enough vitamin D in the blood, they won't even begin to mobilize."

I could go on but don't have the time.

Chrisb1.


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