Vitamin-D-Free Regimen Intensifies the Spatial Learning Deficit in Alzheimer's Disease

• Published in: International journal of neuroscience Vol. 121; no. 1; pp. 16 - 24
• Main Authors: Taghizadeh, Mohsen, Djazayery, Abolghassem, Salami, Mahmoud, Eshraghian, Mohammad Reza, Zavareh, Sayyed Alireza Talaei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Informa Healthcare 01.01.2011; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease - blood; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid beta-Peptides; Animals; Calcitriol - pharmacology; Calcitriol - therapeutic use; Calcium - blood; Disease Models, Animal; Male; Maze Learning - drug effects; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Space Perception - drug effects; spatial performance; vitamin D; Vitamin D Deficiency - drug therapy; Vitamin D Deficiency - psychology; Vitamins - pharmacology; Vitamins - therapeutic use
• ISSN: 0020-7454; 1563-5279; 1563-5279; 1543-5245
• DOI: 10.3109/00207454.2010.523132

ABSTRACT Evidences support a link between nutrition and risk of neurodegenerative Alzheimer's disease (AD). This work was designed to find out if food regimens lacking vitamin D or with a supplement of vitamin D could affect spatial performances in the Alzheimeric animals. The experiment was done on the control and Alzheimeric (ALZ) animals on a normal regimen of food, as well as the Alzheimeric rats fed with regimens lacking vitamin D (ALZ−D) or supplemented with 1,25(OH)2D3 (ALZ+D). For learning the spatial task the animals were trained to locate a hidden platform in the Morris water maze. We found that the ALZ rats had an obvious lower performance compared with the control ones. Generally, the ALZ−D rats displayed a poorer spatial learning compared with either the ALZ or the ALZ+D rats. Vitamin D supplement did not significantly influence the spatial performance. We conclude that although vitamin D deficiency strengthens the spatial learning deficit in AD, a supplement of 1,25(OH)2D3 does not effectively underlie the maze performance. It can be concluded that subjects with AD must be protected from vitamin D inadequacy.