Properties, Compounds Discovery, and Use of Cholecalciferol - Essay Example

CHEMISTRY Cholecalciferol It is a type of vitamin D. Its role like vitamin D does is absorbing calcium that comes from the stomach and aids the calcium to perform adequately in the body. It has a steroid molecule that has an open ring (Gupta, pg. 702) Properties This compound is responsible for strengthening bones. The main purpose of this compound is to take calcium to the bones to prevent bone disorders. In elderly people the compound helps a lot as it slows down the growth of any disease. Another property is that it prevents cancer. Studies have shown that the administration of this compound on cancer patients slows the disease and it has also prevented instances of breast cancer. The compound if acquired through sand bathing there is no presence of any toxicity and stops producing when it sufficient in the body. It helps the skin to be in good condition. The compound is also given to lactating mother to boost the levels of vitamin D as breast milk is always insufficient in Vitamin D. the compound is also applied in blood and heart vessels conditions, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure. It is also used in cases of obesity, diabetes, arthritis, muscle weakness and tooth disease. Some individuals use the component in treating skin diseases. In addition, it boosts a human immune system and prevents cancer (McDowell, pg.94) As a vitamin it is always synthesized by the body. This compound is always inactive. It only switches to its active form through two hydroxylations which is in the kidney and the liver that forms calcitriol and nuclear receptor. The receptor is responsible for synthesizing many enzymes and it exists in all cells. It has melting point that ranges from 83-86 degrees Celsius. Its molar mass is 384.64g/mol. In addition, its boiling point is 496.4 degrees Celsius. 1 shows structure of vitamin D3 Compounds discovery A medic by the name Hippocrates treated phthisis by the use of sunlight exposure or heliotherapy. An historian observed the difference the skull of Egyptians and Persian warriors as Persians worn turbans making their skull weaker. The medic compared the disease to rickets. The first description of lack of vitamin c was given in the 17th C by a doctor and a professor. Rickets astonished many chronicles in the 18th and 19th C. what caused this was insufficient vitamin that was not vitamin. As at the beginning of 1800s research showed that cod liver oil was a possible cure of rickets. The main breakthrough in the understanding of what causes rickets was during the development experimental science and when individuals appreciated vitamins’ existence. Sir Edwards in the 1900s worked with dogs that were raised indoors and also devised food that lacked this vitamin and later found out that rickets is caused by a deficiency of a component in food. He then made his conclusion that what causes rickets is a deficiency of vitamin that is soluble in fats (Sneader, pg.241) Thereafter, McCallum and McCollum were able to induce a disease that resembled rickets in chickens by feeding them on an incomplete diet. The result was that cod liver treated the disease. There assumption was that vitamin that was present in the liver oil was responsible for the cure. Other researchers also identified a precursor in vitamin D was exposed in UV light which was an equivalent of the soluble vitamin in fats. Steenbock and Hess in the 1924 identified a range of foodstuff that have no antirachitic properties turned be antirachitic after i=interacting with the ultra violet rays. The compound after activation from sunlight was referred to as pro-vitamin D. Many other observations in both 19th and 20th C fostered many other links between this vitamin and sunlight. A professor in Germany was the first to determine the first equivalent of vitamin D in 1930. Finally, with the chemical synthesis of two vitamins of D: vitamin D3 known as cholecalciferol and vitamin D2 known as egocalciferol there was establishment of rickets’ therapy and osteomalacia. Vitamin D2 that could be made by UV irradiation was identified in 1932 while Vitamin D3 in 1936. Synthesis 7-Dehydrocholesterol comes before cholecalciferol. 7-Dehydrocholesterol situated in the lower layer of the skin goes through a process called electrocyclic reaction which occurs as a result of ultra violet blue radiation which leads to the opening of B ring via a conrotatory way. This is followed by a rearrangement of the pre-cholecalciferol known as antarafacial sigmatropy and ultimately forms isomers that lead to vitamin D3. It is then hydroxylated in both the liver and kidney. In the liver it forms calcifediol that when hydroxylated in the kidney forms calcitriol (Ravina, pg. 211). Therefore during synthesis the steps below take place in order: cholecalciferol is broken down in the lower skin from dehydrocholesterol via the action of ultra violet blue light. Then it balances after some time to reach equilibrium dependent on the light intensity determined by altitude, season, latitude, cloud cover and the degree and age of skin pigmentation. Liver hepatocytes are then hydroxylated to calcifediol by 25- hydroxylase which is loosely controlled. Lastly, calcifediol in the kidney are hydroxylated to calcitriol by an alpha hydroxylase which tightly controlled. The process is stimulated by hypophosphatemia or parathyroid hormone and acts as the main control point where calcitriol is produced. Uses of cholecalciferol It’s a vitamin that is soluble in fats that aids the body in absorption of phosphorous and calcium. For the bones in a human body to stay strong right amounts of phosphorous, calcium and vitamin D is important. The vitamin is used in the prevention and treatment of any kind of bone disorder for instance rickets. The body makes vitamin D naturally from the sun when a human body is exposed to the sun. If an individual wear opaque stuff such that there in access of inadequate sunlight there are high chance to suffer disorders accompanied by lack of vitamin D. calcium together with vitamin D play a major role in preventing bone loss (Berdainer, pg.244) Vitamin is also used hand in hand with other medications in treating inadequate phosphate or calcium in the body caused by some disorders like familial hypophosphatemia, hyperparathyroidism, pseudohypoparathyroidism. It may also be applied in kidney cases to maintain the levels of calcium and assists the bone to grow normally. The compound is also given to lactating mother to boost the levels of vitamin D as breast milk is always insufficient in Vitamin D. the compound is also applied in blood and heart vessels conditions, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure. It is also used in cases of obesity, diabetes, arthritis, muscle weakness and tooth disease. Some individuals use the component in treating skin diseases. In addition, it boosts a human immune system and prevents cancer. Works cited Ramesh Chandra Gupta. “Veterinary Toxicology: Basic and Clinical Principles.” 2002 Academic Press Lee Russell McDowell. “Vitamins in Animal and Human Nutrition”. 2008, John Wiley & Sons Walter Sneader. “Drug Discovery: A History.” 2005, John Wiley & Sons Carolyn D. Berdanier. “Advanced Nutrition Micronutrients.” 1997, CRC Press Enrique Ravina. “The Evolution of Drug Discovery: From Traditional Medicines to Modern Drugs.” 2011, John Wiley & Sons Read More