The significance of vitamin D in the regulation of bone metabolism in term and premature infants

Improvements in neonatal care for premature babies have led to significant improvements in survival rates for low and very low birth weight infants. Due to the characteristics of calcium-phosphorus homeostasis and bone metabolism, neonatologists often encounter skeletal system pathology in premature newborns. This condition is a metabolic disease of premature infants’ bones based on a deficiency of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D, resulting in impaired growth and mineralization of the growing skeleton. Vitamin D is one of the most important regulators of bone metabolism. On the one hand, it stimulates the absorption of Ca2+ and P3-in the small intestine, and on the other hand, it has a direct effect on bone tissue cells (osteoblasts, osteocytes, osteoclasts, and chondrocytes) through the vitamin D receptors located in them. Risk factors for developing bone metabolism disorders in term and premature newborns, as well as the correlating role of vitamin D in skeletal formation and maintaining homeostasis, were considered.