Molecular Approaches for Optimizing Vitamin D (one size does not fit all) – Carlberg Nov 2015

Molecular Approaches for Optimizing Vitamin D Supplementation

Vitamins & Hormones, online 30 November 2015
Carsten Carlberg carsten.carlberg at uef.fi
Vitamin D Life paid publisher $31.50 to read the study

Vitamin D Life quick-read comment on the study
Genes are responsible for much of the individual variation in response to vitamin D.
Author introduces a concept of a vitamin D Index which could be made based on before/after measurements of vitamin D levels along with before/after DNA analysis of 4 – 20 genes (to measure affect of Vitamin D intervention).
If a loading dose is used the vitamin D tests could be closely spaced (a few days to a week or so).
Quotes from the PDF

• VitDmet (NCT01479933 small study of mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) Carlberg et al., 2013
  “study subjects differed significantly by responding only to 29% to 83% of all. This allowed a segregation of the study subjects into high and low responders”
• VitDbol (NCT02063334 – 2,000 IU reported in Vukic et al., 2015
• “each human individual displays a personal response to vitamin D”
• “it is advisable to measure at least twice a person’s vitamin D status together with a number of molecular and clinical parameter”
• “The response to vitamin D supplementation varies considerably from individual to individual and depends on many factors, such as baseline level, adiposity, and genotype, i.e., a “one dose fits all” approach is not anymore appropriate”

What appears to be missing in the study

• No numbers from the study about how big the factors actually are
• No indication of influence of Vitamin D Receptor inside cells – which is not measured by ANY vitamin D test
• No mention of importance of cofactors (Magnesium, Omega-3, etc) on the vitamin D response
• No indication of response variation from alternate sources of vitamin D (topical, gut friendly, active vitamin D, etc)
• No indication of affects of genes not in the blood – e.g. prostrate, skin, breast, etc.

Bibliography includes the following

• Carlberg, C. (2014a). Genome-wide (over)view on the actions of vitamin D. Frontiers in Physiology, 5, 167. - on Vitamin D Life
• Carlberg, C. (2014b). The physiology of vitamin D—Far more than calcium and bone. *Frontiers in Physiology, 5, 335.-
• Carlberg, C., & Campbell, M. J. (2013). Vitamin D receptor signaling mechanisms: Integrated actions of a well-defined transcription factor. Steroids, 78, 127–136.
• Carlberg, C., & Dunlop, T. W. (2006). An integrated biological approach to nuclear receptor signaling in physiological control and disease. Critical Reviews in Eukaryotic Gene Expression, 16, 1–22.
• Carlberg, C., & Molna ´r, F. (2012). Current status of vitamin D signaling and its therapeutic applications. Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, 12, 528–547.
• Carlberg, C., Molna ´r, F., & Mourino, A. (2012). Vitamin D receptor ligands: The impact of crystal structures. Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents, 22, 417–435.
• Carlberg, C., & Polly, P. (1998). Gene regulation by vitamin D3. Critical Reviews in Eukaryotic Gene Expression, 8, 19–42.
• Carlberg, C., & Raunio, H. (2014). From pharmacogenomics to integrated personalomics profiling: A gap in implementation into healthcare. Personalized Medicine, 11, 625–629.
• Carlberg, C., Seuter, S., de Mello, V. D., Schwab, U., Voutilainen, S., Pulkki, K., et al. (2013). Primary vitamin D target genes allow a categorization of possible benefits of vitamin D3 supplementation. PloS One, 8, e71042. on Vitamin D Life
• Vukic, M., Neme, A., Seuter, S., Saksa, N., de Mello, V. D., Nurmi, T., et al. (2015). Relevance of vitamin D receptor target genes for monitoring the vitamin D responsiveness of primary human cells. PloS One, 10, e0124339. on Vitamin D Life

See also Vitamin D Life

• Vitamin D Receptor locations – Dec 2012 Carlberg, et.al.
• Genes are one of the reasons for low response to vitamin D – Nov 2014
• Genetics and Vitamin D category listing has 266 items along with related searches
• Response to 1000 IU of vitamin D varies by about 4 percent due to gene variants – RCT July 2014
• Gene differences can result in 14 ng difference in vitamin D levels– Feb 2014
• Common Vitamin D gene variants and resulting diseases – Jan 2013
• How to predict response to a vitamin D dose – RCT April 2014
• Toward predicting vitamin D levels without a blood test.
• Reasons for low response to vitamin D

Predict Vitamin D category has the following
It is very difficult to predict the response to supplementation of Vitamin D, or additional sun/UV
There are a huge number of factors involved.

63 Predict Vitamin D articles

See Vitamin D Life
How to predict response to a vitamin D dose – RCT April 2014
Toward predicting vitamin D levels without a blood test.
Reasons for low response to vitamin D
Overview Vitamin D Dose-Response has many charts, such as


click on chart for details