Figure 1.

Vitamin D-mediated mechanisms affecting skeletal muscle performance and healing. Vitamin D produces non-genomic effects that affect calcium and phosphate uptake within muscle to sustain contraction, while long-term effects (genomic) of this hormone influence the release of myogenic factors and reduce the accumulation of fat tissue within muscle fibers as well as muscle catabolism. After direct or indirect muscle injury, three main events occur: paracrine signals by neighboring cells stimulate the release of myogenic mediators, overexpression of VDR and CYP27B1 and reduction of oxidative stress.