Vitamin D: The crucial neuroprotective factor for nerve cells

Abstract

Vitamin D is well known for its role in regulating the absorption and utilization of calcium and phosphorus as well as bone formation, and a growing number of studies have shown that vitamin D also has important roles in the nervous system, such as maintaining neurological homeostasis and protecting normal brain function, and that neurons and glial cells may be the targets of these effects. Most reviews of vitamin D's effects on the nervous system have focused on its overall effects, without distinguishing the contributors to these effects. In this review, we mainly focus on the cells of the central nervous system, summarizing the effects of vitamin D on them and the related pathways. With this review, we hope to elucidate the role of vitamin D in the nervous system at the cellular level and provide new insights into the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases in the direction of neuroprotection, myelin regeneration, and so on.

Keywords: Glial cells; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurons; Vitamin D.