Neurochemical Effects of Chronic Administration of Calcitriol in Rats

Nutrients

Pei Jiang¹  Li-Hong Zhang¹  Hua-Lin Cai¹  Huan-De Li¹  Yi-Ping Liu¹  Mi-Mi Tang¹  Rui-Li Dang¹  Wen-Ye Zhu¹  Ying Xue¹ 

[1] Institute of Clinical Pharmacy & Pharmacology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, China; E-Mails:

关键词: vitamin D;    calcitriol;    neurotransmitter systems;    brain function;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nu6126048

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Despite accumulating data showing the various neurological actions of vitamin D (VD), its effects on brain neurochemistry are still far from fully understood. To further investigate the neurochemical influence of VD, we assessed neurotransmitter systems in the brain of rats following 6-week calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D) administration (50 ng/kg/day or 100 ng/kg/day). Both the two doses of calcitriol enhanced VDR protein level without affecting serum calcium and phosphate status. Rats treated with calcitriol, especially with the higher dose, exhibited elevated γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) status. Correspondingly, the mRNA expression of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) 67 was increased. 100 ng/kg of calcitriol administration also increased glutamate and glutamine levels in the prefrontal cortex, but did not alter glutamine synthetase (GS) expression. Additionally, calcitriol treatment promoted tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2) expression without changing dopamine and serotonin status. However, the concentrations of the metabolites of dopamine and serotonin were increased and the drug use also resulted in a significant rise of monoamine oxidase A (MAO_A) expression, which might be responsible to maintain the homeostasis of dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission. Collectively, the present study firstly showed the effects of calcitriol in the major neurotransmitter systems, providing new evidence for the role of VD in brain function.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.