A/Professor Tom Burne, UQ : " The role of vitamin D in the adult brain"

Speaker:

A/Professor Tom Burne,

Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland

Title:  "The role of vitamin D in the adult brain"

Abstract: Neuropsychiatric disorders are very disabling and their causes are generally poorly understood. Much of the disability associated with these disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression and cognitive impairment, cannot be avoided even with optimal treatment, and this creates an urgent need to evaluate known risk factors that may eventually lead to both prevention and better treatments of these diseases. Over the last decade our group has undertaken a coordinated program of research developing animal models that link neonatal vitamin D deficiency with a range of neurobiological outcomes. However, the mechanisms linking vitamin D with psychiatric disorders remain poorly understood. It is possible that exposure to adult vitamin D (AVD) deficiency may contribute to adverse mental health outcomes. While there is some evidence to suggest that those with AVD deficiency may be at increased risk of subsequent first onset of neuropsychiatric disorders, we speculate that worse outcomes will be experienced by those with a prior (established) brain disorder who in addition have AVD deficiency. In this talk I will discuss the molecular signalling changes resulting from vitamin D deficiency and explore the extent to which they underlie cognitive dysfunction in people. Using a mouse model we have established that the hippocampus is affected by AVD deficiency and our evidence points to alterations in a sub-population of inhibitory interneurons, which in turn leads to structural and functional changes in connectivity. If these changes generalise to humans, then this research could have important public health implications because one third of adult Australians are exposed to suboptimal levels of vitamin D, and up to two thirds of neuropsychiatric patients are vitamin D deficient. This research will have translatable implications for public health because vitamin D deficiency can be treated.