EC Pharmacology And Toxicology

Vitamin D₁ (hexahydroxy, 5-β, 6-keto,7-dehydrocholesterol; 20-hydroxyecdysone) was accidentally discovered in the search for an insect moulting hormone in 1965. Recent studies [5] provide evidence, however, that the true biological nature of this partly water-soluble derivative of cholesterol is not an animal hormone. It is a long neglected, biologically active vitamin D₁ which does not need to be activated in the skin by UV-light. Unlike other purely lipid soluble cholesterol derivatives, vitamin D₁ is widely distributed in yeast, mushrooms and lower and higher plants. Animal tissues do not seem to synthesize vitamin D₁ de novo; they obtain it from vegetable food, herbivores and possibly also from intestinal symbiotic flora. The availability of vitamin D₁ in human blood may be essential for the construction of cytoplasmic membranes in dividing cells during somatic growth and regeneration. In contrast to the common provitamins D₂ and D₃, vitamin D₁ is biologically active without UV-light in all organisms. In the human body, vitamin D₁ causes a plethora of beneficial health effects: tonic and antifatigue, anabolic growth of the bones and flesh in juveniles, increased muscle performance or increased immunity in newborn babies. Recently, there have been reports about anti-Alzheimer, anti-carcinogenic and anti-muscular degeneration properties. Here it has been suggested that vitamin D₁ prevents the formation of malignant, polynucleated tumors.

 Keywords: Vitamin D₁; Carcinogenesis

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