VITAMIN D (PHASE III)

Vitamin D deficiency among adults and children are common worldwide. However, there is confusion about the preventative dose.

Following vitamin D3 oral administration, attained serum concentrations of its metabolite 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) are variable among children.

We developed the first physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to successfully predict the long-term serum 25(OH)D3 increases in healthy schoolchildren in Cape Town who received orally administered vitamin D3 and exhibited higher relative increases than Mongolian children. The model was fitted to 77 Cape Town schoolchildren between 6–11 years, and the model made accurate predictions for another 463 children of the same age. Using the model, we illustrated that average increase in serum 25(OH)D3 among the Mongolian children is expected to be lower than Cape Town children. This highlights differences among the two population.

Collaborators: Adrian Martineau (QMUL), Keren Middelkoop (Cape Town) and Davaasambuu Ganmaa (Harvard)

Honorary Research Fellow: Nadda Muhamad (Kasetsart)