Vitamin D, Essential Minerals, and Toxic Elements: Exploring Interactions between Nutrients and Toxicants in Clinical Medicine

Table 1

Interactions of vitamin D, essential minerals, and toxic elements.

Interaction	Vitamin D (VTD)	Calcium (Ca)	Magnesium (Mg)	Zinc (Zn)	Copper (Cu)	Iron (Fe)	Selenium (Se)
Vitamin D	NIL	↑ absorption of Ca [12]	↑ absorption of Mg [12]	↑ absorption of Zn [12]	↑ absorption of Cu	↑ absorption of Fe [12]	↑ absorption of Se
Cadmium (Cd)	absorption; of Cd [12]; ↑ absorption results in ↓ active VTD (renal)	Low Ca intake results in ↑ Cd absorption and results in Cd osteodystrophy [13]	Low Mg intake = ↑ Cd absorption; ↑ osteodystrophy	Cd competes with Zn for absorption replaces Zn on metallothionein [13]	↑ Cd decreases Cu absorption; and interferes with Cu metabolism; increased Cu protects from Cd toxicity [13]	Cd decreases Fe absorption; low Fe intake = ↑ Cd absorption [14]	Se protects against Cd toxicity [15]
Lead (Pb)	↑ absorption of Pb [12]; ↑ absorption results in active VTD; (renal) and promotes Pb toxicity	Low Ca results in ↑ Pb absorption and ↑ Pb in tissues and brain to impair cognition; calcium and phosphorous supplementation decreases Pb absorption and retention [16, 17]	Increased calcium and magnesium may protect against lead induced hypertension in pregnancy [18]	Pb competes with Zn for intestinal absorption and replaces zinc on hem enzyme; Zn supplementation decreases tissue Pb accumulation [16, 17, 19]	Copper insufficiency leads to increased toxicity of Pb; dietary copper reduced Pb absorption [19]; together, iron and copper completely inhibited the effects of Pb	Low Fe intake = ↑ Pb absorption competing for transport system; supplementation may decrease Pb absorption and toxicity [17]	Se is useful as an adjunct in chelation treatment in Pb intoxication
Mercury (Hg)	No effect on absorption of Hg [43]; Vitamin D may help detoxify the brain from excess Hg [20]	↑ Hg releases intracellular Ca stores disrupting neuronal transport; Ca protects against mercury toxicity [21]	Mg protects against Hg toxicities but less than Ca [21]	Zn is protective against methylmercury damage [22]	Cu protects against Hg toxicities but less than Mg [21]	Iron protects against Hg toxicity; Hg exposure may result in iron deficiency [23]	Se protects best against Hg toxicity and binds mercury [15, 17]
Cobalt (Co)	↑ absorption of Co	N/A	N/A	Administration of Co increases Zn concentration in liver	Administration of Co increases urinary Cu excretion [24]	High iron interferes with Co absorption [25]	Cobalt may reduce the absorption of Se [26]
Aluminum (Al)	↑ absorption; of Al [12]	Low calcium in presence of Al results in ↑ Al absorption and osteodystrophy [17]	Ca deficiency and low Mg intake result in ↑ Al absorption and Al induced neurodegeneration	Al may have a protective effect on testis in Zn deficiency state (rat study) [27]	Al may have a protective effect on testis in Cu deficiency state [27]	Low Fe intake = ↑ Al absorption	Se may have a protective effect from Al [28]
Strontium (Sr)	↑ absorption; of Sr [12]	↓ intestinal absorption of calcium; (competitive); must have adequate VTD present [29]	↓ intestinal absorption of Ca and Mg; Sr bone benefits disappear with low Mg [30]	Bone benefits disappear with low Zn [30]	Sr may reduce the level of Cu in the blood [31]	Sr competes for iron absorption	N/A
Arsenic (As)	Unknown	Ca has protective effects against As toxicity [32]	Mg may have protective effects against As toxicity [32]	Zinc may increase As elimination; mechanism is unknown [33, 34]	As may increase copper deposition in the kidney [35]	Iron is used as a precipitant to remove arsenic from water; the combination may cause hepatic damage in humans [36]	↓ or ↑; moderate Se will ↓ As toxicity [32]; High level of Se may ↑ As toxicity [37]

NIL = no interaction, N/A = information not available, ↑ = increase, and ↓ = decrease.