It has been suggested that the major source of vitamin D should come from dietary sources and not sun exposure. However, the major fortified dietary source of vitamin D is milk which often does not contain at least 80% of what is stated on the label. Fish has been touted as an excellent source of vitamin D especially oily fish including salmon and mackerel. Little is known about the effect of various cooking conditions on the vitamin D content in fish. We initiated a study and evaluated the vitamin D content in several species of fish and also evaluated the effect of baking and frying on the vitamin D content. Surprisingly, farmed salmon had approximately 25% of the vitamin D content as wild salmon had. The vitamin D content in fish varied widely even within species. These data suggest that the tables that list the vitamin D content are out-of-date and need to be re-evaluated.

1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1α,25(OH)2D3) is known to inhibit the proliferation and invasiveness of prostate cancer cells. However, 1α,25(OH)2D3 can cause hypercalcemia and is not suitable as a therapeutic agent. 19-Nor-vitamin D derivatives are known to be less calcemic when administered systemically. In order to develop more potent anti-cancer agents with less calcemic side effect, we therefore utilized 3H-thymidine incorporation as an index for cell proliferation and examined the antiproliferative activities of nine C-2-substituted 19-nor-1α,25(OH)2D3 analogs in the immortalized PZ-HPV-7 normal prostate cell line. Among the nine analogs we observed that the substitution with 2α- or 2β-hydroxypropyl group produced two analogs having antiproliferative potency that is approximately 500- to 1000-fold higher than 1α,25(OH)2D3. The 3H-thymidine incorporation data were supported by the cell counting data after cells were treated with 1α,25(OH)2D3, 19-nor-2α-(3-hydroxypropyl)-1α,25(OH)2D3 or 19-nor-2β-(3-hydroxypropyl)-1α,25(OH)2D3 for 7 days. 19-Nor-2α-(3-hydroxypropyl)-1α,25(OH)2D3 and 19-nor-2β-(3-hydroxypropyl)-1α,25(OH)2D3 were also shown to be about 10-fold more active than 1α,25(OH)2D3 in cell invasion studies using prostate cancer cells. In conclusion, a substitution at the C-2 position of 19-nor-1α,25(OH)2D3 molecule with a hydroxypropyl group greatly increased the antiproliferative and anti-invasion potencies. Thus, these two analogs could be developed to be effective therapeutic agents for treating early and late stages of prostate cancer.

In this report we describe that 1,25(OH)(2)D(3)-3-BE, a VDR-affinity labeling analog of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3), showed strong and dose-dependent growth-inhibitory effect in several epithelial cells, i.e., keratinocytes (primary cells), MCF-7 breast cancer, PC-3, and LNCaP prostate cancer and PZ-HPV-7 immortalized normal prostate cell-lines. Furthermore, 10(-6) M of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3)-3-BE induced apoptosis specifically in LNCaP and PC-3 cells; and the effect was much less pronounced at lower doses. We also showed that the effect (of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3)-3-BE) was not due to probable degradation (hydrolysis) of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3)-3-BE or random interaction of this molecule with cellular proteins. Tissue- or cell-specific action of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) and its mimics is not common due to the ubiquitous nature of VDR. Furthermore, variable effects of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) and its analogs in various cell-lines potentially limits their application as anticancer agents. We showed that 1,25(OH)(2)D(3)-3-BE displayed similar growth-inhibitory and cytotoxic activities towards androgen sensitive LNCaP and androgen-independent PC-3 cell-lines. Therefore, these results raise the possibility that 1,25(OH)(2)D(3)-3-BE or similar VDR-cross linking analogs of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) might be considered for further development as potential candidates for prostate cancer.

Skin is the site of previtamin D3 and vitamin D3 synthesis and their isomerization in response to ultraviolet irradiation. At present, little is known about the function of the photoisomers of previtamin D3 and vitamin D3 in skin cells. In this study we investigated the antiproliferative activity of the major photoisomers and their metabolites in cultured human keratinocytes by determining their influence on 3H-thymidine incorporation into DNA. Our results demonstrated that vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxytachysterol3 were effective in inhibiting 3H-thymidine incorporation at both 10−8 and 10−6 M in a dose-dependent manner. Lumisterol, tachysterol3, 5,6-trans-vitamin D3, and 25-hydroxy-5,6-transvitamin D3 only induced significant inhibition at 10−6 M. 25-Hydroxytachysterol3 was approximately 10- to 100-fold more active than tachysterol3. 7-Dehydrocholesterol was not active even at 10−6 M. The dissociation constants of vitamin D receptor (VDR) for 25-hydroxytachysterol3, 25-hydroxy-5,6-trans-vitamin D3, and 5,6-trans-vitamin D3 were 22, 58, and 560 nM, respectively. The dissociation constants for 7-dehydrocholesterol, tachysterol, and lumisterol were greater than 20 μM. In conclusion, vitamin D3, its photoisomers, and the photoisomers of previtamin D3 have antiproliferative activity in cultured human keratinocytes. However, the antiproliferative activity did not correlate with their binding affinity for VDR. The results suggest that some of the photoproducts may be metabolized to their 25-hydroxylated and 1α,25-dihydroxylated counterparts before acting on VDR. Alternatively, a different receptor may recognize these photoproducts or another mechanism may be involved in modulating the antiproliferative activity of the photoisomers examined.

1 alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D-3 (10(-12) M to 10(-8) M) caused a dose dependent increase in PKC activity in the solubilized membrane fractions of cultured human keratinocytes and in the cytosolic fractions of cultured human fibroblasts. Maximum activity was induced by 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D-3 at 24 h. Sphingosine, which is believed to inhibit PKC mediated biological responses, blunted 1 alpha,25(OH)(2)D-3's inducement of PKC activity in both keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Identical hormone treatment of vitamin D receptor deficient fibroblasts did not increase PKC activity. Treatment of keratinocytes and fibroblasts with 1 beta,25-dihydroxyvitamin D-3, which is believed to be ineffective in inducing genomic responses, did not induce PKC activity. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The biologic action of parathyroid hormone (PTH)-related peptide (PTHrP) in normal skin was investigated in cultured human keratinocytes and in SKH-1 hairless mice. The results indicate that the PTHrP agonists human PTHrP-(1-34) and PTH(1-34) are potent inhibitors of epidermal cell proliferation. [Nle8,18,Tyr34]bovine PTH-(7-34)-amide, an antagonist of the PTH/PTHrP receptor, blocked the inhibitory effect of PTH-(1-34) in cultured keratinocytes. In the SKH-1 mice, PTH-(7-34) caused a 244% increase of [3H]thymidine incorporation into isolated epidermal DNA and 246% and 180% increases in the number and length of hair shafts, respectively. Thus, PTH and PTHrP may play an important role in the normal physiology of skin, and their agonists and antagonists have potentially wide therapeutic applications in the treatment of hyperproliferative skin disorders and aging skin and could also be effective in stimulating and maintaining hair growth.