Increased anxiety in mice lacking vitamin D receptor gene

Abstract:

Vitamin D is a steroid hormone with many important functions in the brain, mediated through the vitamin D nuclear receptor. Numerous human and animal data link vitamin D dysfunctions to various behavioural disorders.

To examine this problem, we studied whether genetic ablation of vitamin D receptors in mice may be associated with altered emotional behaviours.

Here we show that the receptor-deficient mice demonstrate increased anxiety-like behaviours when subjected to a battery of behavioural tests.

These studies suggest that vitamin D and its receptors are an important factor in the brain, whose imbalance may significantly affect emotional behaviour.

Copyright 2004 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins