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Is There a Correlation Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Low Serum Level of Gdnf in Substance Use Disorder Cases?



Alipour M1 ; Jafarian M2 ; Mokri A1 ; Gorji A3 ; Zarindast MR1 ; Kheirabad AK4 ; Razaghi EM1
Authors
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Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Department of Neurosciences and Addiction studies, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  2. 2. Shefa Neuroscience Research Center, Khatam al-anbia Hospital, Tehran, Iran
  3. 3. Epilepsy Research Centre, Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat Muenster, Germany
  4. 4. Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Source: Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems Published:2020

Abstract

Background: GDNF is a neurotrophic factor that is crucial to survival and in the development of dopaminergic neurons. It is produced in the adult brain in the Nucleus Accumbens (NA) and subsequently transported as retrograde to Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA). The VTA-NA pathway is an important component of the mesolimbic dopamine system, which is the main target of substances of abuse in the brain. Interestingly, wide distribution of vitamin D receptors throughout the brain, in particular the concentration of those receptors in dopaminergic neurons, raises the assumption of potential interaction between GDNF and vitamin D. Vitamin D is effective in GDNF expression and the administration of vitamin D increases GDNF, mRNA, and protein levels in the striatum of adult rats. Our study investigated the association between serum Vitamin D and GDNF levels in subjects who were using substances, compared with controls. For this purpose GDNF and vitamin D serum level were compared between three groups of subjects: those using opioids and methamphetamine concomitantly, others using methamphetamine without opioids, and a control group without any use of substances. Methods: According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study, 54 participants who used substances and 23 healthy subjects as a control group were evaluated for serum levels of Vitamin D and GDNF. Results: Serum levels of GDNF and Vitamin D were significantly lower in subjects who were using substances compared with the control group. There was a significant correlation between the serum levels of vitamin D and GDNF in both groups of subjects taking substances. Conclusions: We would like to put forward the hypothesis that the treatment of vitamin D deficiency in people who use substances might improve the outcome of treatment for substance use disorder by increasing levels of serum GDNF. © 2020, Pacini Editore S.p.A.. All rights reserved.
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