Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, 00-416 Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacogenomics, Faculty of Pharmacy with Division of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland.
Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Jul 14;19(7):2051. doi: 10.3390/ijms19072051.
This article provides a detailed review of current knowledge on the role of vitamin D and its receptor in the biology and management of uterine fibroids (UFs). Authors present ideas for future steps in this area. A literature search was conducted in PubMed using the following key words: "uterine fibroid" and "vitamin D". The results of the available studies, published in English from January 2002 up to April 2018, have been discussed. Vitamin D is a group of steroid compounds with a powerful impact on many parts of the human body. This vitamin is believed to regulate cell proliferation and differentiation, inhibit angiogenesis, and stimulate apoptosis. Nowadays, hypovitaminosis D is believed to be a major risk factor in the development of UFs. In many studies vitamin D appears to be a powerful factor against UFs, resulting in inhibition of tumor cell division and a significant reduction in its size, however, the exact role of this compound and its receptor in the pathophysiology of UFs is not fully understood. According to available studies, vitamin D and its analogs seem to be promising, effective, and low-cost compounds in the management of UFs and their clinical symptoms, and the anti-tumor activities of vitamin D play an important role in UF biology. The synergy between vitamin D and selected anti-UF drugs is a very interesting issue which requires further research. Further studies about the biological effect of vitamin D on UF biology are essential. Vitamin D preparations (alone or as a co-drugs) could become new tools in the fight with UFs, with the additional beneficial pleiotropic effect.
本文详细回顾了维生素 D 及其受体在子宫肌瘤（UFs）生物学和治疗中的作用的现有知识。作者提出了该领域未来研究的思路。在 PubMed 中使用了以下关键词进行文献检索：“uterine fibroid”和“vitamin D”。讨论了 2002 年 1 月至 2018 年 4 月期间以英文发表的现有研究结果。维生素 D 是一组具有强大作用的甾体化合物，对人体许多部位都有影响。这种维生素被认为可以调节细胞增殖和分化，抑制血管生成，并刺激细胞凋亡。目前，维生素 D 缺乏被认为是 UFs 发展的一个主要危险因素。在许多研究中，维生素 D 似乎是对抗 UFs 的有力因素，可抑制肿瘤细胞分裂，并使其体积明显缩小，但这种化合物及其受体在 UFs 病理生理学中的确切作用尚未完全明了。根据现有研究，维生素 D 及其类似物似乎是治疗 UFs 及其临床症状的有前途、有效且低成本的化合物，维生素 D 的抗肿瘤活性在 UF 生物学中起着重要作用。维生素 D 与选定的抗 UF 药物之间的协同作用是一个非常有趣的问题，需要进一步研究。关于维生素 D 对 UF 生物学的生物学作用的进一步研究是必不可少的。维生素 D 制剂（单独或作为联合药物）可能成为对抗 UFs 的新工具，并具有额外的有益的多效性作用。
