Introduction:

Vitamin D, considered, more than a vitamin, a prohormone, is attributed multiple and important functions beyond calcium homeostasis. The growing interest in vitamin D is related to the discovery of its receptors and the expression of the 1α-hydroxylase enzyme in different body tissues. This has generated the description of a large number of effects of vitamin D in different tissues and it involvement in various physiological processes such as antitumor activity, DNA repair, control of apoptosis, oxidative stress, immunomodulation, cell adhesion, and metabolism, as well as other functions still to be clarified; and, although studies are not conclusive, they suggest a relationship between low levels in the vitamin and some chronic, autoimmune and oncological diseases.

Objective:

The purpose of this article was to describe, based on updated information, the extraskeletal functions of vitamin D and its relationship with some diseases.

Methods:

Google Scholar was the search engine used to retrieve scientific information. We reviewed 101 articles from different databases, such as PubMed, SciElo, and web pages in general. Out of this number, 74 were chosen as referents.

Conclusions:

There is evidence about the extra-bone effect of the hormone known as vitamin D, as well as about the unfavorable biological influence of its low levels; however, there is no consensus regarding the beneficial effect of supplementation with this hormone.

        · resumen en Español     · texto en Español     · Español ( pdf )