Scientists from the University of Queensland have found that vitamin D affects developing brain cells in schizophrenia. Research published Journal of Neurochemistry.
Although the exact causes of schizophrenia are not clear, it is known that schizophrenia is associated with dysfunction of dopamine, a substance involved in the transmission of nerve impulses.
Scientists have grown nerve cells responsible for the release of dopamine in the brain in the laboratory to reproduce the process of early embryonic development. They enlarged neurons both in the presence and absence of the active hormone vitamin D.
Biologists have found that vitamin D levels affect the growth of dopamine-secreting cells. In addition, dopamine release was stronger in cells growing in the presence of vitamin D.
The results may suggest that early changes in the differentiation and function of dopamine neurons may be responsible for the neurological development of dopamine dysfunction in adults who develop schizophrenia.
Previously, the authors of the new study had found that maternal vitamin D deficiency may be associated with impaired brain development in children, including schizophrenia. The team is currently investigating whether other risk factors for schizophrenia, such as maternal hypoxia or infection, affect the developmental trajectory of dopamine neurons.