Vitamin-D Kit

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble steroid hormone precursor that is mainly produced in the skin by exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D is biologically inert and must undergo hydroxylation steps to become active.(1) Our body can only synthesize vitamin D3. Vitamin D2 is taken up with fortified food or given by supplements. Physiologically, vitamin D3 and D2 are bound to the vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) in plasma and transported to the liver to become 25-hydroxyvitamin D (vitamin D (25-OH)). As vitamin D (25-OH) represents the major storage form, its blood concentration is used to assess the overall vitamin D status. More than 95 % of vitamin D (25-OH), measurable in serum, is vitamin D3 (25-OH) whereas vitamin D2 (25-OH) reaches measurable levels only in patients taking vitamin D2 supplements.(1,2,3) Vitamin D is essential for bone health. In children, severe deficiency leads to rickets. In elderly, the risk of falling has been attributed to vitamin D deficiency due to muscle weakness. Moreover, low vitamin D (25-OH) concentrations are associated with lower bone mineral density. Insufficiency has also been linked to diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune diseases.(1) The 25- OH Vitamin D is intended for the quantitative determination of vitamin D (25-OH) in human serum, plasma, tissue homogenates and other biological fluids, as an aid in the assessment of vitamin D sufficiency.