1. Intestinal absorption of 47Ca was measured by a double-isotope technique in goats treated with 1, 5 or 25 μg of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25(OH)2D3). The effects of giving 1,25(OH)2D3 by intravenous (iv) infusion for 30–36 h were compared at each dose level with the effects obtained by oral administration of 1,25(OH)2D3 either in ethanol or protected against rumen degradation in fatty acid pellets.
2. Dose-dependent increments in absorption followed the treatments, with a doubling of absorption at the 1 μg dose and three- to fivefold increases with the 5 and 25 μg doses. 47Ca absorption was equally stimulated 2 and 6 d after treatment but had returned to pretreatment levels 12–14 d after treatment.
3. Intravenous and protected oral administration of 1,25(OH)2D3 stimulated 47Ca absorption to the same extent, in spite of two- to fivefold higher plasma concentrations of 1,25(OH)2D3 after iv treatment. Somewhat lower increments in 47Ca absorption were seen using ethanol as the vehicle for oral administration.
4. The naturally occurring metabolites 1,24(R),25-trihydroxycholecalciferol and 1,25(S),26-trihydroxy-cholecalciferol had only one-tenth to one-fifteenth the potency of 1,25(OH)2D3 in stimulating 47Ca absorption, while synthetic lα-hydroxycholecalciferol appeared to be twice as effective as 1,25(OH)2D3 when tested at a high (10μg) dose.