Role of vitamin D in vascular calcification: bad guy or good guy?

ences between studies may be explained by different doses, types of vitamin D sterols used and treatment duration. Of note, different types of active vitamin D derivatives, when given in high amounts to animals with CKD, are not endowed with the same calcification-inducing capacity. Thus, paricalcitol has been shown to be less pro-calcifying in uraemic rats than calcitriol or doxercalciferol [3, 14]. Whether this also holds true for human patients with CKD remains a matter of debate. No prospective trials are available in such patients comparing the effects of calcitriol with those of the newer active vitamin D derivatives.