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A Comparison of the Toxicity of Ergocalciferol and Cholecalciferol in Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta)¹

New England Regional Primate Research Center, Harvard Medical School, Southborough, Massachusetts 01772

Daily oral doses of 50,000, 100,000 and 200,000 IU of ergocalciferol and cholecalciferol in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) demonstrated that cholecalciferol was significantly more toxic than ergocalciferol in this species. All animals given cholecalciferol developed hypercalcemia, died and had extensive soft tissue mineralization. Hypercalcemia occurred in ergocalciferol-supplemented monkeys, but the animals survived and comparable soft tissue mineralization was not evident after sacrifice. A unique feature of the lesion of cholecalciferol toxicity was the deposition of crystals resembling urates with an associated granulomatous reaction. A relationship to relative vitamin A deficiency was suggested.

KEY WORDS: • ergocalciferol • cholecalciferol • vitamin D

¹ Supported by National Institutes of Health, USPHS Grant no. RR 00169-10.

Manuscript received 4 February 1972.