Emerging role of genetic factors related to Vitamin D in Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease is an insidious progressive neurodegenerative disease. The pathological markers of AD are Aβ plaques and NF-tangles formation in the hippocampus, cortex region of the brain. Vitamin-D is a steroidal vitamin that plays an important role in AD and is a neuroprotective agent having anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-Aβ formation of APP in AD patients as reported in the recent literature. Vitamin D3 enhances the level of mitochondrial complexes I, II, III, and IV and decreases the level of NF-kB in the hippocampus and cortex region of the brain. It helps in the regulation of amyloid precursor protein in normal humans. But if is deficiency occurs, it causes a rise in the level of the Aβ protein plaque formation that leads to the onset of AD symptoms. It also has an ACE inhibiting property which is beneficial in AD. It attenuates the neuroinflammatory action in the hippocampus and reduces the neuronal degeneration in the cortex region of the brain. The goal of this review is to discuss the role of Vitamin D in AD and the genetics associated with AD.

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