The role of vitamin D in the prevention of late-life depression

Abstract

BACKGROUND In this article, we review current evidence regarding potential benefits of vitamin D for improving mood and reducing depression risk in older adults. We summarize gaps in knowledge and describe future efforts that may clarify the role of vitamin D in late-life depression prevention. METHODS MEDLINE and PsychINFO databases were searched for all articles on vitamin D and mood that had been published up to and including May 2015. Observational studies and randomized trials with 50 or more participants were included. We excluded studies that involved only younger adults and/or exclusively involved persons with current depression. RESULTS Twenty observational (cross-sectional and prospective) studies and 10 randomized trials (nine were randomized placebo-controlled trials [RCTs]; one was a randomized blinded comparison trial) were reviewed. Inverse associations of vitamin D blood level or vitamin D intake with depression were found in 13 observational studies; three identified prospective relations. Results from all but one of the RCTs showed no statistically significant differences in depression outcomes between vitamin D and placebo groups. LIMITATIONS Observational studies were mostly cross-sectional and frequently lacked adequate control of confounding. RCTs often featured low treatment doses, suboptimal post-intervention changes in biochemical levels of vitamin D, and/or short trial durations. CONCLUSION Vitamin D level-mood associations were observed in most, but not all, observational studies; results indicated that vitamin D deficiency may be a risk factor for late-life depression. However, additional data from well-designed RCTs are required to determine the impact of vitamin D in late-life depression prevention.

Effect of Multinutrient Supplementation and Food-Related Behavioral Activation Therapy on Prevention of Major Depressive Disorder Among Overweight or Obese Adults With Subsyndromal Depressive Symptoms

“…Overall, the studies available thus far, including our trial, do not support the use of nutritional supplementation in the prevention of depression. 12 Food-related behavioral activation therapy had a significant effect on reduction in anxiety symptoms at 12 months but not on any of the other secondary mental health outcomes. When accounting for a priori defined intervention adherence (ie, attending ≥8 of 21 sessions), food-related behavioral activation therapy was related to lower MDD onset, with an ef-fect size comparable with that reported in (meta-analytic) studies of psychological interventions for depression.…”

“…Of those randomized to the therapy groups, 71% attended 8 or more of the 21 sessions. A median of 14 of 15 individual sessions were attended (interquartile range [IQR], [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], and a median of 0 of 6 group sessions (IQR, 0-4) were attended, indicating that adherence to individual sessions was highest.…”

Rationale and Design of Khuzestan Vitamin D Deficiency Screening Program in Pregnancy: A Stratified Randomized Vitamin D Supplementation Controlled Trial

“…Recent growing evidence confirms its protective influence on the prevention of certain diseases like cancer [7], cardiovascular disorders [8], falls and fractures [9], autoimmunity [10], type-2 diabetes [11], and depression [12]. …”

Impact of Vitamin D on the Clinical Outcome of Gastro-Entero-Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: Report on a Series from a Single Institute

“…cardiovascular diseases [1][2][3] and cancer, by regulating the immune system, reducing the inflammatory response and influencing the cellular growth and differentiation [4][5] . Moreover, vitD insufficiency is linked to an increased risk of malignant, cardiovascular, autoimmune and infectious diseases [2,[6][7] .…”