The new insight on the regulatory role of the vitamin D3 in metabolic pathways characteristic for cancerogenesis and neurodegenerative diseases.

Apart from the classical function of regulating intestinal, bone and kidney calcium and phosphorus absorption as well as bone mineralization, there is growing evidence for the neuroprotective function of vitamin D3 through neuronal calcium regulation, the antioxidative pathway, immunomodulation and detoxification. Vitamin D3 and its derivates influence directly or indirectly almost all metabolic processes such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, inflammatory processes and mutagenesis. Such multifactorial effects of vitamin D3 can be a profitable source of new therapeutic solutions for two radically divergent diseases, cancer and neurodegeneration.

[Alzheimer's disease: new prospects in therapy and applied experimental models].

Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) are the most common disease of modern society. The gradual and irreversible disturbances in homeostasis are characteristic features of the disease process. The cardinal features of AD include the formation of extracellular protein deposits in the brain that consist predominantly of aggregates of b amyloid protein(senile plaques), neurofibrilary tangles (hyperfosforylated tau protein) in the intracellular compartments,disturbances in calcium homeostasis, and degeneration/loss of synapses and neurons.