Survey of vitamin D levels in swine serum across different stages of production

摘要

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that is stored in the liver and adipose tissue. Vitamin D3, cholecalciferol, must go through enzymatic conversions in the liver and kidney to form the metabolically active form, 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Over the past two years, vitamin D deficiency and hypocalcemia have gained interest in the swine industry. Recently, the Iowa State University Diagnostic Laboratory (ISU VDL) investigated several cases of sudden death in nursery and finishing pigs that was ultimately attributable to vitamin D deficiency and hypocalcemia. Several cases were associated with feed mixing errors; however, others were not linked to mixing errors or improper ingredients, but hypovitaminosis D was implicated.