The Role of Vitamin D in Diabetes and Other Metabolic Disorders

According to the physiological and biochemical make up of the human body, we were meant to live with some exposure to sunlight. Due to increased amounts of employment opportunities requiring our society to earn their living indoors behind a computer, inside a restaurant, or in a factory to name a few, people are not absorbing the vitamin D they need daily. Therefore, vitamin D deficiency, along with other metabolic disorders are becoming increasingly more prevalent and more severe. However, with high prevalence comes an increase in awareness. Today new discoveries have shown those with low vitamin D levels are more likely to have diabetes. In addition, calcium plays a large role in the body to maintain bone and muscle health (Clemente et al., 2015). In a recent study published in Science Daily®, participants had their vitamin D levels checked via blood testing and measured the expression of the vitamin D receptor gene in adipose. Diabetic subjects were found to have lower levels of vitamin D in their system compared to those who had not been diagnosed with glucose metabolism disorder (Clemente et al., 2015). Vitamin D is vital in the body to help absorb calcium in the gastrointestinal tract. Vitamin D is first biologically inert and needs to be hydroxylated in the liver by an enzyme called vitamin D-25-hydroxylase. Vitamin D becomes 25(OH)D, but this form of vitamin D needs further hydroxylation in the kidneys by another enzyme 25(OH)-1-OHase to finally form the biologically active form of vitamin D, which is vitamin D 1,25(OH)2D. This form allows for intestinal calcium absorption. Without vitamin D, only ten to fifteen percent of dietary calcium can be absorbed (Nair & Maseeh, 2012). Vitamin D receptors on most cell surfaces in most tissues in the body does a wide variety of things inside the body. First, it inhibits cellular proliferation and angiogenesis. Second, it stimulates insulin production, but prevents renin production. Regarding genetic affects, the 1,25(OH)2D is potentially responsible for regulating up to two hundred genes that can have pleiotropic health benefits. Pleiotropy means that a single gene can have multiple, unrelated genetic affects (Nair & Maseeh, 2012). It is apparent vitamin D plays a large biochemical role in calcium absorption, which is vital for bone and muscle health. Overall, it makes sense that low levels of vitamin D can be correlated with glucose metabolism disorders because vitamin D receptors play a crucial role in stimulating insulin production. Resources: Clemente-Postigo, M., Muñoz-Garach A., Serrano, M., Garrido-Sánchez, L., Bernal-López, M., Fernández-García, D., Moreno-Santos, I., Garriga, N., Castellano-Castillo, D., Camargo, A., Fernández-Real, J., Cardona, F., Tinahones, F., Macías-González M. (2015, April). Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Adipose Tissue Vitamin D Receptor Gene Expression: Relationship With Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 100, Issue 4, 1, Pages E591–E595, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2014-3016 Nair, R., & Maseeh, A. (2012). Vitamin D: The "sunshine" vitamin. Journal of pharmacology & pharmacotherapeutics, 3(2), 118-26. https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4842520274317742324#