Carbone Federico, Montecucco Fabrizio
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa School of Medicine, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, 6 Viale Benedetto XV, 16132 Genoa, Italy ; Cardiology Division, Foundation for Medical Researches, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Geneva, 64, Avenue de la Roseraie, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa School of Medicine, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, 6 Viale Benedetto XV, 16132 Genoa, Italy ; Division of Laboratory Medicine, Department of Genetics and Laboratory Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
Scientifica (Cairo). 2013;2013:620504. doi: 10.1155/2013/620504. Epub 2013 Dec 26.
Vitamin D has been shown to play critical activities in several physiological pathways not involving the calcium/phosphorus homeostasis. The ubiquitous distribution of the vitamin D receptor that is expressed in a variety of human and mouse tissues has strongly supported research on these "nonclassical" activities of vitamin D. On the other hand, the recent discovery of the expression also for vitamin D-related enzymes (such as 25-hydroxyvitamin D-1 α -hydroxylase and the catabolic enzyme 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D-24-hydroxylase) in several tissues suggested that the vitamin D system is more complex than previously shown and it may act within tissues through autocrine and paracrine pathways. This updated model of vitamin D axis within peripheral tissues has been particularly investigated in atherosclerotic pathophysiology. This review aims at updating the role of the local vitamin D within atherosclerotic plaques, providing an overview of both intracellular mechanisms and cell-to-cell interactions. In addition, clinical findings about the potential causal relationship between vitamin D deficiency and atherogenesis will be analysed and discussed.
维生素D已被证明在几种不涉及钙/磷稳态的生理途径中发挥关键作用。维生素D受体在多种人类和小鼠组织中广泛分布，这有力地支持了对维生素D这些“非经典”活性的研究。另一方面，最近发现在几种组织中也表达维生素D相关酶（如25-羟基维生素D-1α-羟化酶和分解代谢酶1,25-二羟基维生素D-24-羟化酶），这表明维生素D系统比以前所显示的更为复杂，它可能通过自分泌和旁分泌途径在组织内发挥作用。外周组织中这种更新后的维生素D轴模型已在动脉粥样硬化病理生理学中得到特别研究。本综述旨在更新局部维生素D在动脉粥样硬化斑块中的作用，概述细胞内机制和细胞间相互作用。此外，还将分析和讨论关于维生素D缺乏与动脉粥样硬化发生之间潜在因果关系的临床研究结果。
