title: Vitamin D, light and mental health.
abstract: Vitamin D receptors and vitamin D metabolizing enzymes are present in the central nervous system. Calcitriol (the active vitamin D hormone) affects numerous neurotransmitters and neurotrophic factors, relevant for mental disorders. In the case of depressive disorders, considerable evidence supports a role of suboptimal vitamin D levels. However, the data are not conclusive and further studies are necessary. Especially, the relative importance of the pineal-melatonin system versus the vitamin D-endocrine system for the pathogenesis of seasonal affective disorders is presently unresolved. Two diagnoses, schizophrenia and autism, have been hypothetically linked to developmental (prenatal) vitamin D deficiency, however, also in adult patients, low levels have been reported, supporting the notion that vitamin D deficiency may not only be a predisposing developmental factor but also relate to the adult patients' psychiatric state. Two cases are described, whose psychiatric improvement coincided with effective treatment of vitamin D deficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, St. Göran, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. mats.humble@gmail.com
authors.forename: Mats B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Humble
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000209:etiology; D016574:Seasonal Affective Disorder / Q000209:etiology; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D