How to cure vitamin D deficiency
There is no doubt that vitamin D is vital for good health.
But some have questioned whether the sun and the vitamin can co-exist.
In a new study, scientists have now revealed that vitamin d can be co-existed with vitamin A. “Vitamin D and vitamin A have a long history of being co-expressed,” says lead researcher V. V. Venkatachalam, a professor of molecular biology at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
“We can see that this co-existence of the two vitamins, in a healthy system, can be an important factor for vitamin D’s health benefits.”
“It is an extremely powerful vitamin,” says senior author Dr. Arun Kumar Sharma, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Venkatacarya and co-author of the paper published in Nature Communications.
“And it has been known for some time that it can be a co-supplement of vitamin D in healthy individuals.”
The study involved the study of mice and humans, using a mouse model of depression.
Researchers used a mouse strain that produces a protein called GADD that is involved in regulating vitamin D levels.
In the model, the mice were supplemented with 10,000 IU of vitamin A daily for 12 weeks, to prevent vitamin D depletion.
Vitamin D is a chemical that helps regulate the production of vitamin B12, and the researchers found that vitamin A levels increased after supplementation.
In addition, the vitamin A supplement increased the levels of a gene called PINK1.
These changes could help explain why vitamin D supplementation has been shown to increase the levels and activity of PINK.
“The effect of vitamin-D supplementation on the gene expression and function of PANK1 is expected to have important implications for vitamin-A metabolism,” the authors wrote.
“It is also possible that the vitamin-C, the essential fatty acid that helps to protect the cells of the body from free radicals, could play an important role in the regulation of Pank1 activity.”PINK1 is also linked to the regulation and development of human skin cells, which can play an essential role in vitamin D absorption.
The researchers hope that their results could be applied to humans, as well.
“We think that the PINK-1 gene is a key regulator of vitamin production in the human body,” says Dr. Venkatesh, adding that this could help to understand the function of this vitamin.
“The same gene has been identified as a target for anti-inflammatory drugs.
And it has also been shown that vitamin-B6 and vitamin-d receptors can regulate gene expression.”
The researchers hope their findings could be incorporated into the development of new drugs that target PINK in humans.
“I think it is very exciting to see how the two different vitamins can coexist and that we can treat depression in humans with vitamin D,” Sharma says.
“There are many drugs out there that are based on vitamin D, and if we can develop a drug that targets both vitamins simultaneously, it will help the treatment of depression.”
In the study, the researchers also discovered that the co-expression of the PANK2 gene could prevent the loss of vitamin C from the body.
“This gene is very important for vitamin C metabolism in the body, so if we could activate this gene, we could increase the absorption of vitamin c,” Venkatachesar says.