Vitamin D Prevents Cognitive Decline and Enhances Hippocampal Synaptic Function in Aging Rats

ABSTRACT: Vitamin D is an important calcium-regulating hormone with diverse functions in numerous tissues including the brain. Increasing evidence suggests that vitamin D may play a role in maintaining cognitive function and that vitamin D deficiency may accelerate age-related cognitive decline. Using aging rodents, we attempted to model the range of human serum vitamin D levels, from deficient to sufficient, to test whether vitamin D could preserve or improve cognitive function with aging. For 5-6 months, middle-aged F344 rats were fed diets containing low, medium (typical amount) or high vitamin D3 (100, 1000 or 10,000 IU/kg diet, respectively) and then hippocampal-dependent learning and memory were tested in the Morris water maze. Rats on high vitamin D achieved the highest blood levels (in t

ORGANISM(S): Rattus norvegicus

SUBMITTER: Eric Blalock 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-61326 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress