Vitamin-D-free regimen intensifies the spatial learning deficit in Alzheimer's disease.
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.
Department of Nutrition and Biochemistry, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mohsen
M
Taghizadeh
Abolghassem
A
Djazayery
Mahmoud
M
Salami
Mohammad Reza
MR
Eshraghian
Sayyed Alireza Talaei
SA
Zavareh
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D000818:Animals; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013028:Space Perception / Q000187:drug effects*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D014815:Vitamins / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D014815:Vitamins; D002117:Calcitriol; D002118:Calcium