The Effect of Vitamin D Treatment on Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) Release from Hippocampal Neurons

Abstract

Introduction: Vitamin D, the main function of which is thought to be the maintenance of calcium and phosphate homeostasis and bone structure, has been shown in recent studies to have important roles in brain development as well. A certain vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene haplotype was reported, for the first time by our group, to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Our studies also showed that vitamin D prevents beta amyloid-induced calcium elevation and toxicity that target nerve growth factor (NGF) release in cortical neurons; beta amyloid suppresses VDR expression and the disruption of vitamin D-VDR pathway mimics beta amyloid-induced neurodegeneration. In this study, our aim was to investigate the effects of vitamin Don the NGF release from hippocampal neurons.