Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Isolation and Characterization of Primary Rat Valve Interstitial Cells: A New Model to Study Aortic Valve Calcification
Published on: November 20, 2017
Tissue-specific effect of VDR gene polymorphisms on the response to calcitriol
Daniel Alvarez-Hernandez1, Manuel Naves-Diaz, Carlos Gomez-Alonso
1Bone and Mineral Research Unit, Instituto Reina Sofía de Investigación, REDinREN del ISCIII, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, University of Oviedo, Oviedo - Spain.
Abstract:
In the last decade, the likely role of vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms in different diseases has been extensively discussed. In this paper we review several studies carried out in this field to investigate the possible influence of VDR polymorphisms on different aspects of bone and parathyroid gland metabolism. On one hand, most of the epidemiological studies showed that the BAt haplotype, from BsmI, ApaI and TaqI polymorphisms in VDR, is associated with a lower bone mineral density (BMD) in women and a higher risk of osteoporotic fractures. On the other hand, experimental studies carried out in both human primary osteoblasts and human parathyroid glands showed that while in osteoblasts the BAt haplotype showed a worse response to calcitriol, in parathyroid glands the results were the opposite, and BAt was the haplotype associated with better responses. Overall, the results reinforce the suggestion that VDR polymorphisms play an important role in bone and parathyroid gland behavior, leading to different response patterns due to a likely tissue-specific effect of the VDR response to calcitriol.
Related Concept Videos
Synthesis and Functions of Calcitonin
The exact mechanisms by which calcitonin operates in calcium homeostasis remain elusive, but its significance is evident in several vital...
Pharmacogenetic Phenotypes: Alterations in Pharmacokinetics, Drug Targets and Biologic Milieu
Hormones and Bone Tissue
Hormones That Influence Osteoblasts and/or Maintain the Matrix
Several hormones are necessary for controlling bone growth and maintaining the bone matrix. The pituitary gland secretes growth hormone (GH), which, as its name implies, controls bone growth. This happens in several ways: first, it triggers chondrocyte...
Pharmacogenetics of Drug Targets: β₂-Adrenergic Receptors, Apo E, Thymidylate Synthase
Role of Skin in Vitamin D Synthesis
The solar UV B rays (290-315 nm) are absorbed by the skin, and 7-dehydrocholesterol (provitamin D3) photolyzes it to previtamin D3, which undergoes a rapid transformation to vitamin D3(cholecalciferol).
Skeleton and Calcium Homeostasis
