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Vitamins, derived from the Latin word for life, are essential organic substances required in small quantities for optimal growth and overall well-being. Unlike other organic nutrients, vitamins don't act as sources of energy or building materials but rather facilitate these nutrients' utilization by the body. Vitamins are predominantly coenzymes, assisting enzymes in specific chemical actions, like the oxidation of glucose for energy involving B vitamins. Most vitamins are not produced in our...
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Modifying Levels of Maternal Dietary Folic Acid or Choline to Study the Impact of Deficiencies on Offspring Health Outcomes
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Modifying Levels of Maternal Dietary Folic Acid or Choline to Study the Impact of Deficiencies on Offspring Health Outcomes

Published on: June 28, 2024

Developmental vitamin D deficiency causes abnormal brain development.

D W Eyles1, F Feron, X Cui

  • 1Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia. Eyles@uq.edu.au

Psychoneuroendocrinology
|June 9, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency may explain schizophrenia's origins and epidemiological links. Animal models show DVD deficiency alters brain development and adult behavior, suggesting vitamin D is a neurosteroid impacting brain development.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Vitamin D plays a role in brain development.
  • Environmental factors influence brain development and neuropsychiatric diseases like schizophrenia.
  • Schizophrenia has developmental origins.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hypothesis that developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency is linked to schizophrenia.
  • To establish the biological plausibility of this hypothesis using an animal model.
  • To explore the effects of gestational vitamin D deficiency on brain development and behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Developed an animal model by inducing transient, gestational vitamin D deficiency in rats.
  • Maintained normal calcium levels throughout the study.
  • Assessed brain development, gene and protein expression, and behavioral outcomes in offspring.

Main Results:

  • DVD deficiency caused mild brain shape distortion, increased lateral ventricle volumes, reduced differentiation, and diminished neurotrophic factor expression in offspring.
  • These ventricular volume alterations persisted into adulthood.
  • Adult DVD-deficient rats exhibited behavioral sensitivity to psychosis-inducing agents and attentional processing impairments.

Conclusions:

  • Vitamin D acts as a neurosteroid with direct effects on brain development.
  • Developmental vitamin D deficiency is a plausible biological risk factor for neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia.
  • The study provides evidence supporting the link between gestational vitamin D status and neurodevelopmental outcomes relevant to schizophrenia.