Vitamin D differentiates dopamine neurons in vitro, increasing neurite architecture, dopamine release and expression of relevant synaptic proteins.

Epidemiological studies often link circulatory levels of 25 hydroxy vitamin D with an overwhelming variety of disorders. Of such studies, an increasing number are now linking blood 25 hydroxy vitamin D levels with certain brain disorders. Prominent amongst such disorders are schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. The neurotransmitter dopamine is central to understanding the eitiology of both disorders with schizophrenia representing increased subcortical dopamine function and Parkinson's disease a disorder with the pathological hallmark of dopamine cellular pathology. Our group have established the epidemiology linking vitamin D deficiency in utero and later onset of schizophrenia. We have clarified many of the mechanisms behind how vitamin D effects dopamine neuron positioning, differentiation and survival. In this study we confirm vitamin D differentiates the dendritic architecture of dopamine neurons, that vitamin D may represent a requirement for drug-mediated dopamine release and that vitamin D may sculpt presynaptic proteins related to fast or phasic dopamine release.