Vitamin D hormone confers neuroprotection in parallel with downregulation of L-type calcium channel expression in hippocampal neurons.

ABSTRACT: Although vitamin D hormone (VDH; 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3)), the active metabolite of vitamin D, is the major Ca(2+)-regulatory steroid hormone in the periphery, it is not known whether it also modulates Ca(2+) homeostasis in brain neurons. Recently, chronic treatment with VDH was reported to protect brain neurons in both aging and animal models of stroke. However, it is unclear whether those actions were attributable to direct effects on brain cells or indirect effects mediated via peripheral pathways. VDH modulates L-type voltage-sensitive Ca(2+) channels (L-VSCCs) in peripheral tissues, and an increase in L-VSCCs appears linked to both brain aging and neuronal vulnerability. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that VDH has direct neuroprotective actions and, in parallel, targets L-VSCC

SUBMITTER: Brewer LD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6762438 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature