Vitamin D and the Parenteral Nutrition Patient

The document emphasized the critical role of vitamin D in patients receiving parenteral nutrition (PN), highlighting its importance in bone health, immune modulation, and disease prevention. It discussed the necessity of maintaining adequate serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels (30-100 ng/ml) to prevent conditions like osteoporosis, osteomalacia, and secondary hyperparathyroidism. The document also noted the insufficiency of current intravenous vitamin D preparations and recommended the development of parenteral solutions. It underscored the complexity of metabolic bone disease in long-term PN patients, suggesting that factors beyond vitamin D deficiency contribute to these conditions and require further investigation.