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Vitamin D: Physiology, Molecular Biology, and Clinical Applications,

Division of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, E-mail: Norman{at}ucrac1.ucr.edu

edited by Michael F Holick, 1999, 457 pages, hardcover, $175.00. Humana Press, Inc, Totowa, NJ.

The Humana Press has initiated a new series of books concerning nutrition and health under the general editorship of Adrianne Bendich. Vitamin D: Physiology, Molecular Biology, and Clinical Applications is the first volume in this series. It is not unexpected that a new book reviewing recent advances in our understanding of the biology and clinical application of vitamin D should appear. More than 9700 papers concerned with some aspect of vitamin D have been published since 1970, including numerous papers on the following topics: 4400 on the hormonal form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ [1,25(OH)₂D₃]; 250 on 1,25(OH)₂D₃ and cancer; 900 on analogues of 1,25(OH)₂D₃; 400 on vitamin D and osteoporosis; and 550 on 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D.

This book consists of 25 chapters written by 44 contributors. The stated objective of the book by the series steward, Bendich, is "to provide health professionals with texts that are considered essential because each includes: a synthesis of the state of the science; timely, in-depth reviews by the leading researchers in their respective fields; extensive, up-to-date fully annotated reference lists; a detailed index; relevant tables and figures; identification of paradigm shifts and the consequences; and data-driven answers to patient questions that are based on the totality of evidence rather than the findings of any single study."

Four chapters are devoted to the general area of vitamin D physiology, including actions of 1,25(OH)₂D₃ in the intestine, kidney, and bone. Seven chapters cover the broad area of molecular biology, including vitamin D metabolism, the vitamin D receptor, regulation of parathyroid hormone expression, and nongenomic actions of 1,25(OH)₂D₃. Another 13 chapters are devoted to clinical applications, including vitamin D assays, rickets, inherited defects of vitamin D metabolism, extrarenal production of 1,25(OH)₂D₃, psoriasis, and vitamin D and breast cancer. Finally, there is one interdisciplinary chapter describing the anticancer activity of analogues of 1,25(OH)₂D₃.

When evaluating this book, one cannot avoid a comparison with another recent treatise entitled Vitamin D (edited by D Feldman, FH Glorieux, and JW Pike; Academic Press, New York, 1997), which has 73 chapters, 1285 pages, and 129 contributors. In fact, both books share many of the same authors. Collectively, Holick's book presents the essence of the vitamin D field, whereas Feldman et al's book provides a more comprehensive endeavor.

Notable by their absence in Holick's book are chapters concerning new research frontiers of vitamin D and immunology, vitamin D and the pancreas (diabetes), and the biological importance of 24R,25(OH)₂D₃ to bone. In general, the chapters are of high quality and present a balanced synopsis of their topics, including a succinct use of appropriate reference citations. However, it is questionable whether the stated objective of "data-driven answers to patient questions" is achieved in the clinical chapters because of the inappropriateness of application of this objective to the present knowledge of the vitamin D endocrine system; many of the new concepts are only now being translated into clinical application. In summary, Holick's book presents a short but balanced introduction to the extraordinarily complex field of vitamin D.

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