[Does calcifediol replace vitamin D as a preventive and therapeutic agent?].

Cholecalciferol (CC) given orally is not utilized as efficiently as the CC produced by cutaneous UV light. The infant receives only minute amounts of CC by breast feeding, abolishing therefore the role of a vitamin for CC. The most important D-metabolite of human milk, the calcifediol (CF), however, has transient vitamin character. CF is both resorbed more efficiently by the intestine and it effects mineral metabolism faster via kidney than CC, which needs hydroxylation in the liver first. Thus CF shows advantages in prophylaxis and therapy. However, different (lower) dosages and the danger of hypercalcemia should be kept in mind using CF.