Abstract
The lipid content, especially sterols and phospholipids which are the major components of biological membrane, of liver and intestinal mucosa was investigated in vitamin D deficient and normal rats. Total lipid content was increased in vitamin D deficient rat liver, and this increased lipid content was lowered to normal level by an oral administration of 2,000 IU vitamin D_3. No significant change between vitamin D deficient and normal rats on serum cholesterol and the phospholipid content in both liver and intestinal mucosa was observed. Vitamin D deficiency caused a decrease of FAS (fast acting sterols, mainly composed of cholesterol precursors) and a slight decrease of SAS (slow acting sterols, mainly cholesterol). In liver, vitamin D_3 treatment resulted in an increase of FAS after 3 hours. On the other hand, further decrease of FAS was shown in an intestinal mucosa by vitamin D_3 administration. These results suggest that vitamin D affects the sterol metabolism as well as calcium metabolism.
