title: No role for vitamin D or a moderate fat diet in aging induced cognitive decline and emotional reactivity in C57BL/6 mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epidemiological studies have shown associations between vitamin D, mental health and glucose homeostasis in the elderly. Causal evidence, however, is still lacking.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to investigate the importance of vitamin D in the prevention of emotional disturbances and cognitive decline in aging C57BL/6 mice, with pre-diabetes type II as potential effect modifier.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mice were exposed to one of four diets from 10 months till 24 months of age: low fat vitamin D adequate (LFD), LF vitamin D deficient (LF), moderate fat vitamin D adequate (MFD), and MF vitamin D deficient (MF). The MFD/MF diet was applied to induce a condition resembling pre-diabetes type II. Behavior was assessed twice in the same group of mice at 6-8 and at 22-23 months of age using the Open Field Test (OFT), Elevated Plus Maze (EPM), Object Recognition Test (ORT) and the Morris Water Maze (MWM).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We successfully induced vitamin D deficiency in the LF/MF mice. Moreover, fasting glucose and fasting insulin levels were significantly higher in MFD/MF mice than in LFD/LF mice. A significant aging effect was observed for most behavioral parameters. A MF(D) diet was shown to delay or prevent the age-related increase in emotional reactivity in the EPM. No effect of vitamin D or vitamin D*fat on behavioral outcomes was measured.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Aging significantly affected emotional reactivity and cognitive performance. Although other studies have shown effects of vitamin D on emotional reactivity and cognitive performance in mice, these findings could not be confirmed in aged C57BL/6 mice in this study.
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Nutrition and Health Group/Nutrition and Epidemiology Group/Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Elske.Brouwer-Brolsma@wur.nl.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Brouwer-Brolsma
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Animal Nutrition Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schuurman
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Nutrition and Health Group/Nutrition and Epidemiology Group/Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L C P M G
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: de Groot
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Nutrition and Health Group/Nutrition and Epidemiology Group/Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E J M
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Feskens
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Nutrition and Health Group/Nutrition and Epidemiology Group/Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lute
authors.affiliation: SILS/CNS, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E F G
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Naninck
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, Department of Animals in Science & Society, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Arndt
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, Department of Farm Animal Health, Emotion & Cognition Group, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: van der Staay
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, Move Research Institute VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bravenboer
authors.affiliation: SILS/CNS, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Korosi
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Nutrition and Health Group/Nutrition and Epidemiology Group/Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Steegenga
mesh_terms: D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose; D001835:Body Weight; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004032:Diet; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011897:Random Allocation; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D004041:Dietary Fats; D007328:Insulin; D014807:Vitamin D
keywords: Aging; Cognition; Emotional reactivity; Pre diabetes type II; Vitamin D