Vitamin D Treatment Reverses the Induced Oxidative Stress Damage to DNA

The aim of the current study was to investigate in detail the effect of the active metabolite of vitamin D3 [1, 25 (OH)2 D3] in ameliorating the induced oxidative damage to DNA.

Primary cortical neuron cultures from one week old Wister rats were set up in sterile conditions. The neuron cultures were maintained for up to 72 h in culture in the presence of varying doses of vitamin D. Cells were exposed to (0.5 mM H2O2) for 2 h prior to collection of condition medium and cell pellet for Biochemical Assays. Control and H2O2 treated cultures were maintained without any treatment with vitamin D.

Pre-treatment with 0.25 μg mL-1 for 24 and 48 h significantly reduced the oxidative stress. 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine a ubiquitous marker of oxidative stress had also shown to be significantly reduced. The DNA damage marker PolyUB of histones was observed in the neuron treated with H2O2 only.

This study revealed that oxidation of DNA by hydrogen peroxide caused extensive DNA damage, resulting in polyubiquitination of histones. The pre-treatment with vitamin D3 however completely reversed the DNA damage cascade induced by hydrogen peroxide and protected the DNA.