Recent studies of metabolism using pharmacological substrate concentrations of 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1alpha,25(OH)(2)D3] in several tissues including primary cultures of human keratinocytes, bovine parathyroid cells and bone cells led to the identification of 1alpha,25-dihydroxy-3-epi-vitamin D3 [1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D3] as a major natural metabolite of 1alpha,25(OH)(2)D3. In the present study, we demonstrate that human keratinocytes incubated with 25-hydroxy[26,27-(3)H] vitamin D3 produce 1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D3 along with 1alpha,25(OH)(2)D3. The production of 1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D3 is also identified in human keratinocytes incubated with physiological substrate concentrations of 1alpha,25(OH)(2)D3. Unlike 24-hydroxylase, the major enzyme involved in the further metabolism of 1alpha,25(OH)(2)D3 in human keratinocytes, the enzyme(s) responsible for the production of 1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D3 is constitutive and is not inhibited by ketoconazole. It is also noted that 1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D3 is further metabolised in human keratinocytes into several as yet unidentified metabolites, the production of which is inhibited to a great extent by SDZ 89-443, an inhibitor of 24-hydroxylase. This finding indicates that the 24-hydroxylase like in the case of 1alpha,25(OH)(2)D3, also plays a major role in the metabolism of 1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D3. The results obtained from the metabolism studies performed in parallel among 25OHD3, 1alpha,25(OH)(2)D3 and 1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D3 indicate that 1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D3 and its metabolites exhibit higher metabolic stability. In summary, we demonstrate for the first time that 1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D3 is a physiological metabolite of 1alpha,25(OH)(2)D3 in human keratinocytes. Also, 1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D(3) is further metabolised in human keratinocytes mainly through the activity of 24-hydroxylase. Furthermore, our finding of the relative metabolic stability of 1alpha,25(OH)(2)-3-epi-D3 and especially its metabolites when compared to 1alpha,25(OH)(2)D3 and its metabolites provides an important explanation for its previously observed potent inhibitory effect on keratinocyte growth in spite of its low affinity to vitamin D receptor.