There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Due to the presence of receptors in the cells of numerous body tissues, vitamin D
is associated with several physiological functions that go beyond calcium and phosphorus
homoeostasis and control of bone metabolism in the body. In humans, several studies
have associated lower vitamin D concentrations with numerous diseases, such as cancer,
heart disease, autoimmune diseases and infectious diseases, and also with an increase
in the total mortality rate of the population. Recently, this nutrient started to
gain importance in veterinary medicine, and several articles have shown a correlation
between low vitamin D status and diseases unrelated to bone metabolism. The present
review aims to highlight the recent publications that investigated this relationship,
bringing the evidence that exists so far in dogs and cats.