A vitamin that includes both CHOLECALCIFEROLS and ERGOCALCIFEROLS, which have the common effect of preventing or curing RICKETS in animals. It can also be viewed as a hormone since it can be formed in SKIN by action of ULTRAVIOLET RAYS upon the precursors, 7-dehydrocholesterol and ERGOSTEROL, and acts on VITAMIN D RECEPTORS to regulate CALCIUM in opposition to PARATHYROID HORMONE.
Synonyms: Vitamin D, 1406-16-2
Instance information
comment
/defic = VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY or RICKETS; /ther use: coordinate disease with /drug ther, not /diet ther
identifier
D014807
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Types