Why vitamin D in Alzheimer's disease - a hypothesis

Created November 2014

Why vitamin D in Alzheimer's disease? The hypothesis.

J Alzheimers Dis. 2014;40(2):257-69. doi: 10.3233/JAD-131970.

Gezen-Ak D, Yılmazer S, Dursun E.

Department of Medical Biology, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Scientists have worked for over a century to uncover the basis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with the ultimate goal of discovering a treatment. However, none of the approaches utilized have defined the exact cause of the disease or an ultimate treatment for AD. In this review, we aim to define the role of vitamin D in AD from a novel and fundamental perspective and attempt to answer the following question: Why should we seriously consider "simple" vitamin D as a "fundamental factor" in AD?

To answer this question, we explain the

  • protective effects of vitamin D in the central nervous system and

  • how the action of vitamin D and AD-type pathology overlap.

Furthermore, we suggest that the role of vitamin D in AD includes not only

  • vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D-related genes but also the

  • disruption of vitamin D metabolism and action.

This suggestion is supported by evidence that the disruption of vitamin D pathways mimic amyloid pathology .

We define the term "inefficient utilization of vitamin D" as any alteration in vitamin D-related genes, including receptors, the enzymes related to vitamin D metabolism or the transporters of vitamin D, and we discuss the potential correlation of vitamin D status with the vulnerability of neurons to aging and neurodegeneration.

Finally, in addition to the current knowledge that defines AD, we suggest that AD could be the result of a long-term hormonal imbalance in which the critical hormone is vitamin D, a secosteroid that has long been misnamed.

PMID: 24413618

See also VitaminDWiki

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Tags: Cognitive