Optical spectroscopy shows promise for the detection of pre-cancerous cervical lesions in vivo. The fluorescence and reflectance methods are complementary in their ability to differentiate different tissue types, making the use of the two techniques together more diagnostic than the use of either method separately.

The major polar metabolite of cholecalciferol (vitamin D(3)) present in chick intestinal mucosa has been chemically characterized by mass spectrometric analysis to have a molecular formula of C(27)H(44)0(3) and a structure of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol. This compound, which is produced in the kidney from 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, has been previously shown to be from 4 to 13 times as active as cholecalciferol in stimulating intestinal calcium transport. 1,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol (previously designated metabolite 4B in this (laboratory) probably represents the biologically active form of cholecalciferol in the intestine.

A major polar metabolite of cholecalciferol (vitamin D(3)) obtained from chick intestines is over four times as effective as cholecalciferol and over two times as effective as 25-hydroxycholecalciferol in stimulating intestinal calcium transport 24 hours after administration. Following a considerable lag, cholecalciferol and its 25-hydroxy derivative produce a maximum stimulation of the transport response at 24 to 48 hours. The polar intestinal metabolite greatly shortens this lag, stimulating maximum calcium transport by 9 hours. At 9 hours this metabolite is at least 13 times as active as the parent cholecalciferol and as such is a likely candidate for the biologically active form of cholecalciferol in the intestine.

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