New Roles for Vitamin D Superagonists: From COVID to Cancer.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne)
; 12: 644298, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1191681
ABSTRACT
Vitamin D is a potent steroid hormone that induces widespread changes in gene expression and controls key biological pathways. Here we review pathophysiology of vitamin D with particular reference to COVID-19 and pancreatic cancer. Utility as a therapeutic agent is limited by hypercalcemic effects and attempts to circumvent this problem have used vitamin D superagonists, with increased efficacy and reduced calcemic effect. A further caveat is that vitamin D mediates multiple diverse effects. Some of these (anti-fibrosis) are likely beneficial in patients with COVID-19 and pancreatic cancer, whereas others (reduced immunity), may be beneficial through attenuation of the cytokine storm in patients with advanced COVID-19, but detrimental in pancreatic cancer. Vitamin D superagonists represent an untapped resource for development of effective therapeutic agents. However, to be successful this approach will require agonists with high cell-tissue specificity.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pancreatic Neoplasms
/
Vitamin D
/
Vitamins
/
Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal
/
COVID-19 Drug Treatment
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne)
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fendo.2021.644298
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