Liposoluble vitamins in Crustacean feed: Metabolic and Histological responses.

Vitamins are vital for normal growth and survival of living organisms and they are distributed in feedstuffs in small quantities. This review is focused on the liposoluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) in the diets and metabolic responses of the Argentine penaeoid shrimps Pleoticus muelleri and Artemesia longinaris, distributed along the South American coast line. Growth, survival and histological analyses serve as indicators of the nutritional value derived from vitamin deficiency. Liposoluble vitamins are also related to stress, antioxidant defense and immune response of shrimps. Effective diet for shrimp culture that provide not only macronutrients including protein and lipid but also micronutrients such as vitamins for optimal growth is an ever improving subject. This review may help formulating suitable feeds for shrimps.

Vitamin D and tuberculosis / Vitamina D e tuberculose

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The vitamin can be obtained from certain foods or through the exposition to solar light. It works together the parathyroid hormone to keep the sanguineous calcium levels, but it has an interesting participation inimmunologic mechanisms of regulation, mainly of the infectious illnesses, being present in the history of the tuberculosis for a long time. The aim of this study is to revise what has been published, on the role of vitamin D in the tuberculosis physiopathology.CONTENTS: This review deals with immunological mechanisms in tuberculosis infection, the involvement of vitamin D in this mechanisms and what is its applicability in clinical practice for the treatment of tuberculosis.CONCLUSION: Vitamin D can be beneficial as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of tuberculosis. It would be appealing, in a country with our features, that a greater interest in the study of this topic occurred.

JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: A vitamina pode ser obtida dos alimentos ou através da exposição à luz solar. Trabalha junto com o hormônio paratireoideano para manter os níveis de cálcio sanguíneo, mas tem uma interessante participação em mecanismos de regulação imunológicos, principalmente das doenças infecciosas,estando presente na história da tuberculose há muito tempo. O objetivo deste estudo foi revisar o do que já foi publicado,sobre o papel da vitamina D na fisiopatologia da tuberculose.CONTEÚDO: Esta revisão trata sobre mecanismos imunológicos na infecção por tuberculose, o envolvimento da vitamina D nesses mecanismos e qual a sua aplicabilidade na prática médica para o tratamento da tuberculose.CONCLUSÃO: A vitamina D pode ser benéfica como terapia adjuvante no tratamento da tuberculose. Seria atraente, em um país com características climáticas e econômicas como o Brasil,que ocorresse um interesse maior no estudo desse tema.

Manifestaciones clínicas y cambios en la química sérica y tisular en ratas tratadas con vitamina D3 (calciferol) / Clinical signs and changes in serum and tissue chemistry in rats treated with vitamin D3 (calciferol)

En el presente trabajo se estudió el efecto de la administración subcutánea de 250, 500 y 750 μg (10.000, 20.000 y 30.000 UI, respectivamente) de vitamina D3 (calciferol)/día durante 8 días, sobre las concentraciones séricas de vitamina D3 y de 25-hidroxivitamina D3 (25-OH-D3) y sobre las concentraciones séricas y tisulares de Ca, Zn, Cu y Fe en 45 ratas macho Wistar, de 12 semanas de edad y con pesos entre 180 y 200 gramos. El grupo control estuvo integrado por 15 ratas Wistar sanas, con género, edad y peso similares a los animales tratados. La administración del calciferol a dosis altas produjo una hipervitaminosis D que se caracterizo por un aumento en el contenido sérico de la vitamina D3 y de 25-OH-D3, diversos signos clínicos (por ejemplo, anorexia, pérdida marcada de peso, diarreas sanguinolentas, conjuntivitis bilateral y muerte), hipercalcemia, hipocincemia, hipercupremia, hipoferremia y una alteración en la distribución tisular de Ca, Zn, Cu y Fe en comparación con los controles no tratados. La hipercalcemia y la inflamación son un hallazgo prominente en la hipervitaminosis D. La inflamación o la infección inducen cambios sistémicos, conocidos colectivamente como la respuesta de fase aguda. Entre las variadas alteraciones que produce esta respuesta encontramos hipoferremia, hipocincemia e hipercupremia. Es probable que estas respuestas estén mediadas, en parte, por la producción y liberación de citocinas como la interleucina 1, interferones (IFN-alfa), la interleucina 6 (Il-6) y el factor de necrosis tumoral (TNF). El desarrollo de la hipoferremia durante la inflamación requiere de hepcidina, un péptido rico en enlaces disulfuro, regulador del metabolismo del hierro, sintetizado en el hígado en respuesta a la liberación de Il-6 durante la inflamación/infección. En conclusión, nuestros resultados proporcionan evidencias que la administración de altas dosis de vitamina D, a corto plazo, determina diversos signos clínicos, produce un marcado aumento de las concentraciones séricas de la vitamina D3 y de 25-OH-D3 y una marcada alteración en las concentraciones séricas y tisulares de Ca, Zn, Cu y Fe, que dependen de las dosis inyectadas de vitamina D.

In the present work the effect of subcutaneous administration of 250, 500 and 750 ìg (10.000, 20.000 and 30.000 IU, respectively) of vitamin D3 (calciferol) daily for eight days, on serum concentrations of vitamin D3 and 25- hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OH-D3) and on serum and tissue concentrations of Ca, Zn, Cu and Fe in 45 white male Wistar rats, aged 12 weeks and weighing 180-200 g, have been studied. The group control was integrated by 15 healthy rats with similar characteristics (strain, gender, age and weight) that treated animals. Administration of high doses of calciferol produced a hypervitaminosis D characterized by a significant (p3 and 25-OH-D3, diverse clinical signs (such as, anorexia, marked loss of body weight, bloody diarrhea, bilateral conjunctivitis, and death), hypercalcemia, hypozincaemia, hypercupremia, hypoferraemia and an alteration in the tissue distribution of Ca, Zn, Cu and Fe as compared with untreated controls. Hypercalcemia and inflammation are prominent findings in hypervitaminosis D. Inflammation or infection induce systemic changes, collectively known as the acute phase response. Among the varied alterations that together produce this response are hypoferraemia, hypozincaemia and hypercupremia. It is likely that these responses are mediated, in part, by production and release of cytokines such as interleukin 1, interferons (IFN-alpha), interleukin 6 (Il-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). The development of hypoferraemia during inflammation requires hepcidin, an iron regulatory hormone, a disulfide-rich peptide, produced in the liver in response to the release of Il-6 during inflammation/ infection. In conclusion, our results provide evidence that short-term administration of high doses of vitamin D determined diverse clinical signs and produced a marked increase of serum vitamin D3 and 25-OH-D3 and a marked alteration in the serum and tissue concentrations of Ca, Zn, Cu, and Fe. These changes depend on the doses given of vitamin D.

Diagnóstico y tratamiento de la deficiencia de vitamina D / Diagnosis and treatment of vitamin D deficiency

Nutritional status of vitamin D has regained importance in the last few years because its deficiency is highly prevalent, and because, apart from its well known effects on bone metabolism, this vitamin participates in cellular proliferation and differentiation and muscle strength and balance, among other effects. The active molecule is 1,25(OH)2D, but serum concentration of total 25 OH vitamin D (i.e. including ergocalciferol or vitamin D2 plus chole calciferol or vitamin D3) is the preferred indicator of vitamin D status. Recent evidences suggest the need to increase dietary recommendations in adults up to 1,000 IU/day. However, in deficiency states it is often necessary to supplement with pharmaceutical preparations, which contain higher doses of this vitamin since the amounts previously employed were not able to return levels to normal. In the present article we present the entire list of vitamin D preparations commercially available in Chile. The difficulty of choosing the most adequate product for an individual patient becomes clear, because there are only few formulations containing more than 800IU and, in addition they are usually combined with calcium, biphosphonates or multiple minerals and other vitamins.

El estado nutricional de vitamina D ha cobrado importancia en los últimos a±os debido a que su deficiencia es altamente prevalente, y además por sus conocidos efectos en el metabolismo óseo, participa en la diferenciación y proliferación celular, función muscular y equilibrio, entre otros. La molécula activa es la 1,25(OH)2D, pero se recomienda medir niveles séricos de 25 OH vitamina D total (es decir la suma de ergocalciferol o vitamina D2 y colecalciferol o vitamina D3), como reflejo del status de vitamina D. La evidencia actual sugiere la necesidad de elevar las recomendaciones para la ingesta dietaria en adultos, hasta cifras cercanas a 1.000 Ul/día. Sin embargo en casos de deficiencia puede ser necesario utilizar suplementos farmacéuticos conteniendo dosis superiores de esta vitamina, por cuanto aquellas utilizadas en el pasado no lograban corregir el déficit. En este artículo se presenta un listado de los preparados comerciales que contienen vitamina D disponibles en Chile. Al analizarlo se pone de mamfiesto la dificultad que representa elegir el preparado más adecuado para corregir la deficiencia en un paciente individual, debido a que son pocas las preparaciones que contienen más de 800 UI, además de que habitualmente se encuentra en asociación con calcio, bifosfonatos o múltiples otros minerales y vitaminas.