Tags: Chemical Compound, Chemical Substance.
7-Dehydrocholesterol is a zoosterol that functions in the serum as a cholesterol precursor and is converted to vitamin D3 in the skin therefore functioning as provitamin-D3. The presence of this compound in human skin enables humans to manufacture vitamin D3 from ultra-violet rays in the sun light via an intermediate isomer pre-vitamin D3. It is also found in the milk of several mammalian species. In insects it is a precursor for the hormone ecdysone required for reaching adulthood.
