Vitamin D may have direct effect on brain development, social behavior and autism
Vitamin D could have a 'critical influence' levels of serotonin in the brain and may directly effect social behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), according to new research.
Writing in The FASEB Journal, the study suggests that adequate levels of vitamin D may be required to produce serotonin in the brain where it shapes the structure and wiring of the brain, acts as a neurotransmitter, and affects social behavior.
Led by Professor Bruce Ames of Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) in the US, the study demonstrates that serotonin, oxytocin, and vasopressin three brain hormones that affect social behavior are all activated by vitamin D.
“We present evidence that vitamin D hormone (calcitriol) activates the transcription of the serotonin synthesizing gene tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2) in the brain at a vitamin D response element (VDRE) and represses the transcription of TPH1 in tissues outside the bloodbrain
barrier at a distinct VDRE suggesting a causal link between the sunshine vitamin, serotonin and autism,” wrote Ames and his colleagues.
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They noted that autism, which is characterized by abnormal social behavior, has previously been linked to low levels of serotonin in the brain and to low vitamin D levels, but no mechanism has linked the two until now.
Indeed, Ames and his team suggested that their study sheds light on, and offers a mechanism to explain many of the known, but previously not understood facts about autism.
“This mechanism explains how low vitamin D hormone levels result in aberrant serotonin synthesis, subsequently leading to abnormal brain development,” wrote the research team. “Low vitamin D hormone levels during foetal and neonatal development could result in poor TPH2 expression and subsequently reduced serotonin concentrations in the developing brain.”
They added that such a suggestion may mean that adequate vitamin D hormone levels during pregnancy, as well as nutritional intake of tryptophan and vitamin D during early childhood, “may have a critical influence on brain serotonin levels and, thus, on the structure and neural wiring of the brain.”
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