Osteomalacia and disorders of vitamin D metabolism.

A rapidly growing understanding of the biochemical and physiological processes that underlie the metabolism of vitamin D has provided new insights into the pathogenesis of oestomalacia. Many of the vitamin D--resistant osteomalacia syndromes can now be explained on the basis of defects in the metabolic conversion of vitamin D to the biologically active dihydroxylated metabolite 1,25(OH)2D and perhaps, in some instances, to impairement of the actions of 1,25(OH)2D on target tissues. The availability of this new information has made possible the synthesis of 1-hydroxylated forms of the vitamin for therapeutic use in states of vitamin D resistance. Although many questions regarding the pathogenesis and most effective approaches in the management of osteomalacia remain unanswered, considerable progress has been made in this direction as a result of continued research on the subject.