Acta Pharm. 65 (2015) 343-349

 

full paper

Short communication

 

Investigation of the effects of vitamin D and calcium on intestinal motility: In vitro tests and implications for clinical treatment

GUGLIELMO GIRALDI, ANGELO FIORAVANTI, EUGENIA DE LUCA D’ ALESSANDRO, MAURA PALMERY and LUCIA MARTINOLI

lucia.martinoli@uniroma1.it

1 Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

2 Department of Physiology and Pharmacology V. Erspamer, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

Accepted February 19, 2015

 

The presence of vitamin D receptors in small intestine muscle cells may lead one to think that vitamin D may act locally, influencing intracellular calcium concentration and contributing to the contraction-relaxation regulation of the intestinal smooth muscle cells. This study investigates the potential effects of vitamin D and calcium on intestinal motility using an in vitro test.

Different calcium concentrations added to the tissue not pre-treated with 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [1α,25(OH)2D3] produced no response at low doses (1.25 × 10–3 and 2.0 × 10–3 mol L–1) and only a very weak response at higher concentration (3.0 × 10–3 mol L–1). The addition of 1α,25(OH)2D3 (1.44 × 10–10 mol L–1) had no effect on isolated ileum motility. When calcium (3.0 × 10–3 mol L–1) was added after at least 3 hours, it evoked evident and persistent contractions for 60-90 minutes. The contractions were at about 40 % of the peak produced by acetylcholine. Thus, simultaneous intake of vitamin D and calcium might be a useful co-adjuvant in intestinal atony therapy aimed to stimulate normal gut motility in humans. These findings imply that supplemental vitamin D may be important in all cases where calcium has to be prescribed.

 

Keywords: vitamin D, calcium, intestinal motility, in vitro tests