The presence of vitamin D receptors in small intestine muscle cells may lead one to think that vitamin D may act locally, infl uencing intracellular calcium concentration and contributing to the contraction-relaxation regulation of the intestinal smooth muscle cells. This study investigates the potential eff ects of vitamin D and calcium on intestinal motility using an in vitro test. ) was added aft er at least 3 hours, it evoked evident and persistent contractions for 60-90 minutes. The contractions were at about 40 % of the peak produced by acetylcholine. Thus, simultaneous intake of vitamin D and calcium might be a useful co-adjuvant in intestinal atony therapy aimed to stimulate normal gut motility in humans. These fi ndings imply that supplemental vitamin D may be important in all cases where calcium has to be prescribed. Health consequences of vitamin D defi ciency are important; recent studies confi rm that vitamin D defi ciency is widespread in children and elderly people (3, 4). Vitamin D
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.