24-24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin-d3 and Vitamin-D-Deficiency

The biochemical nature of the physiological defect found in chick embryos from hens supported on 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 as their sole source of vitamin D is described. Vitamin D-deficient hens (44-wk-old) were divided into six groups of five and dosed daily for 19 wk with either 2.0 micrograms of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, 2.0 micrograms of 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxy-vitamin D3, 0.4 micrograms of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, 2.0 micrograms of 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, 0.4 micrograms of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 plus 2.0 micrograms of 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, or vehicle only. Normal embryonic development was found in eggs from hens given 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 or 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D3, whereas embryos from hens given 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, or their combination were abnormal and failed to hatch. Embryos from hens fed 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and/or 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 had vitamin D deficiency: low bone ash, low plasma calcium, low total body calcium, and extremely high plasma phosphorus. Because the shell is the major source of calcium for the developing embryo, calcium transport from the shell to the embryos across the chorioallantoic membrane apparently fails, giving rise to the observed defects in embryonic development.

Topics: 24,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D 3; Animals; Biological Transport; Bone and Bones; Calcifediol; Calcitriol; Calcium; Chick Embryo; Chickens; Cholecalciferol; Dihydroxycholecalciferols; Egg Shell; Female; Phosphorus; Vitamin D Deficiency

To determine the relative importance of different metabolites of vitamin D in bone growth and development, weanling male rat pups suckled by vitamin D-deficient mothers were given either calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol) by continuous subcutaneous infusion, oral calcidiol (25-hydroxycholecalciferol), or oral 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxycholecalciferol, a synthetic compound that can undergo 1-hydroxylation but not 24-hydroxylation, as their sole source of vitamin D for 40 d. Pups raised in the same manner, but given no vitamin D, served as controls. The three metabolites compared were given in doses that restored normal plasma calcium levels and normal increments in body weight. After in vivo double tetracycline labeling, bone histomorphometry by standard methods was performed on one femur and one tail vertebra. There were no significant differences between the three metabolite-treated groups in length, periosteal or endosteal diameter, cortical cross-sectional area, cortical porosity, osteoid thickness and volume, appositional rate and bone formation rate in the femur, or in qualitative and quantitative indices of endochondral ossification in the tail vertebra. All three groups differed markedly from the untreated controls with respect to all measurements. Collectively, the data indicate that neither calcidiol nor any 24-hydroxylated metabolite of calcidiol is needed in the rat (other than as a precursor) for longitudinal or transverse bone growth, for normal endochondral ossification, or for normal periosteal and endosteal formation, mineralization, and resorption of bone. Calcitriol was fully active with respect to each of the indices listed when given in a manner resembling its continuous endogenous production by the kidney, suggesting that previous reports of incomplete skeletal response to calcitriol result from its rapid clearance and infrequent oral administration. We demonstrated that calcitriol is the only metabolite that is both necessary and sufficient for normal bone growth and development in the rat, but our data do not indicate the extent to which its beneficial skeletal effects were mediated by direct action on bone, either of calcitriol itself or of some metabolite thereof, or by restoration of normal plasma levels of calcium and phosphate.

Topics: Animals; Bone and Bones; Bone Development; Bone Resorption; Calcifediol; Calcitriol; Female; Lactation; Male; Minerals; Pregnancy; Rats; Vitamin D Deficiency

To evaluate the importance of 1- and 24-hydroxylation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 on skeletal mineralization, male and female rats from vitamin D-deficient mothers were administered from weaning either 100 pmol/day of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, 50 pmol/day of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, or 100 pmol/day of 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 as their sole source of vitamin D. A separate group of rats did not receive any vitamin D. 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 was given by constant infusion at a dose that normalized plasma calcium concentrations and produced normal body weight gains. Skeletal mineralization was studied by determining femur organic and ash weights. Femurs were obtained from male rats 6 wk after weaning, from female rats at conception, at the end of lactation, and 6 wk after lactation, and from weanling pups born to the female rats. No striking differences in femur organic and ash weights were found between 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 groups and either the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 group or the 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 group, whereas the vitamin D-deficient rats had poorly mineralized femurs. These results indicate that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 at a lower dose is as fully active as 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in promoting skeletal mineralization in the rat and that preventing the 24-hydroxylation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 by administering 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 does not elicit any obvious skeletal abnormality, especially on mineralization.

Topics: Aging; Animals; Bone Development; Calcifediol; Calcitriol; Calcium; Female; Hydroxylation; Lactation; Male; Pregnancy; Rats; Structure-Activity Relationship; Vitamin D Deficiency

This study examines whether 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D3, an analogue of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 blocked from undergoing 24-hydroxylation, can maintain normal growth and reproduction in the female rat. Vitamin D-deficient weanling rats were maintained from weaning through mating, pregnancy, and lactation with either 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (given by continuous subcutaneous infusion), 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D3, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, or vehicle. Body weight, plasma calcium levels, estrous cycling time, ability to give birth to live pups, litter weight, number of pups per litter, dam plasma calcium level during lactation, and pup growth to 9 wk of age were recorded. No striking differences were observed between the 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 groups and either the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 group or the 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 group. However, significant differences in most parameters were observed between the vitamin D-deficient and metabolite- or analogue-dosed rats. The results demonstrate that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and/or one of its metabolites is sufficient to maintain normal growth, development, and reproductive functions in the female rat. Because 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 cannot be hydroxylated at C-24, the 24-hydroxylation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 is not essential for normal growth, development, and reproduction in the female rat.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Calcifediol; Calcitriol; Calcium; Estrus; Female; Hydroxylation; Pregnancy; Rats; Sexual Maturation; Structure-Activity Relationship; Vitamin D Deficiency

The biological activity of subcutaneously injected 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxycholecalciferol was compared with that of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol in the vitamin D-deficient growing chick. 24,24-Difluoro-25-hydroxycholecalciferol is equal to 25-hydroxycholecalciferol in the stimulation of: 1) growth, 2) intestinal calcium absorption, 3) elevation of serum calcium and serum phosphorus, 4) healing of rachitic cartilage (radiography), and 5) mineralization of rachitic bone (bone ash). The response appears to be linear in the range of 13.0 to 325 pmol daily. Since 24,24-difluorocholecaliferol cannot be 24-hydroxylated to produce either 24,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol or 1,24,25-trihydroxycholecalciferol, while it can be 1 alpha-hydroxylated to produce 24,24-difluoro-1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, these results demonstrate that 24-hydroxylation is not required for the known functions of cholecalciferol in the chick.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Bone and Bones; Calcifediol; Calcium; Chickens; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Male; Phosphorus; Structure-Activity Relationship; Vitamin D Deficiency

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Bone and Bones; Calcifediol; Cholecalciferol; Femur; Hydroxycholecalciferols; Male; Minerals; Rats; Vitamin D Deficiency

Topics: Animals; Bone and Bones; Calcifediol; Calcium; Cartilage; Cholecalciferol; Hydroxycholecalciferols; Hydroxylation; Phosphates; Rats; Vitamin D; Vitamin D Deficiency

To investigate the biological importance of 24R-hydroxylation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D to the early development of rats, the potency of 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 had been compared to that of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in young rat pups born to vitamin D-deficient mothers. 24,24-Difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 were equally active in stimulating active calcium transport in the intestine, maintaining normal concentrations of calcium and phosphorus in the plasma and promoting bone growth and mineralization. These results provide strong evidence that the presence of a hydroxyl group at the 24 position of vitamin D3 is not required for the maintenance of calcium-phosphate homeostasis during growth and in the development and mineralization of bone.

Topics: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Biological Transport, Active; Bone Development; Calcifediol; Calcium; Female; Hydroxycholecalciferols; Hydroxylation; Intestinal Mucosa; Male; Phosphorus; Pregnancy; Rats; Structure-Activity Relationship; Vitamin D Deficiency

To examine the question of whether 24-hydroxylation plays and importance role in the physiological functions of vitamin D, the biological activity of 24,24-difluoro-25-hydroxyvitamin D was compared with that of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in vitamin D-deficient rats. These two compounds were found almost identically active in the stimulation of intestinal calcium transport, the mobilization of calcium from bone, the healing of rachitic epiphyseal plate cartilage, the elevation of serum inorganic phosphorus, the mineralization of rachitic bone, and in the prevention of rachitogenesis in rats. Little or no difference was detected in the time course of response of intestinal calcium transport or bone calcium mobilization to the two forms of vitamin D. Therefore, in the rat no support could be obtained for the idea that 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 plays an important role in the known physiological responses to the vitamin.

Topics: Animals; Biological Transport, Active; Calcifediol; Calcium; Hydroxycholecalciferols; Hydroxylation; Intestinal Absorption; Intestinal Mucosa; Intestine, Small; Kinetics; Male; Phosphates; Rats; Rickets; Vitamin D Deficiency