Therapeutic Potential of Vitamin D in Depressive Disorder and Anxiety Disorders

A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2024 | Viewed by 1224

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Department of Biochemistry, Center of Biological Sciences, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
Interests: animal models; neuroscience; behavioral pharmacology; neuropsychopharmacology; biological psychiatry; antidepressant agents
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last two decades, the critical role of vitamin D in brain development and function has been highlighted. This neurosteroid has been implicated in proliferation, differentiation, maturation, and neuronal survival. In addition, its neuromodulatory properties on serotoninergic, glutamatergic, and dopaminergic neurotransmission have also been reported, and its neuroprotective effects related to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant functions have been the subject of extensive research. Particularly, vitamin D deficiency, a condition that affects a high percentage of global population, has been investigated as a risk factor for depression and anxiety. In this regard, several studies have examined the potential of vitamin D as an antidepressant and anxiolytic strategy. However, the mechanisms underlying the antidepressant and anxiolytic effects of vitamin D have not yet been fully elucidated. In this context, this Special Issue aims to highlight innovative studies investigating the possible mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of vitamin D for depression and anxiety. Additionally, original research articles and review papers dealing with the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation for the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Ana Lúcia Severo Rodrigues
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • antidepressant
  • anxiety
  • cholecalcipherol
  • depression
  • major depressive disorder
  • vitamin D

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

28 pages, 41710 KiB  
Article
Putative Pharmacological Depression and Anxiety-Related Targets of Calcitriol Explored by Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking
by Bruna R. Kouba, Glorister A. Altê and Ana Lúcia S. Rodrigues
Pharmaceuticals 2024, 17(7), 893; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph17070893 - 5 Jul 2024
Viewed by 951
Abstract
Depression and anxiety disorders, prevalent neuropsychiatric conditions that frequently coexist, limit psychosocial functioning and, consequently, the individual’s quality of life. Since the pharmacological treatment of these disorders has several limitations, the search for effective and secure antidepressant and anxiolytic compounds is welcome. Vitamin [...] Read more.
Depression and anxiety disorders, prevalent neuropsychiatric conditions that frequently coexist, limit psychosocial functioning and, consequently, the individual’s quality of life. Since the pharmacological treatment of these disorders has several limitations, the search for effective and secure antidepressant and anxiolytic compounds is welcome. Vitamin D has been shown to exhibit neuroprotective, antidepressant, and anxiolytic properties. Therefore, this study aimed to explore new molecular targets of calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, through integrated bioinformatic analysis. Calcitriol targets were predicted in SwissTargetPrediction server (2019 version). The disease targets were collected by the GeneCards database searching the keywords “depression” and “anxiety”. Gene ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used to analyze the intersections of targets. Network analyses were carried out using GeneMania server (2023 version) and Cytoscape (V. 3.9.1.) software. Molecular docking predicted the main targets of the network and Ligplot predicted the main intermolecular interactions. Our study showed that calcitriol may interact with multiple targets. The main targets found are the vitamin D receptor (VDR), histamine H3 receptor (H3R), endocannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 (CB1 and CB2), nuclear receptor NR1H3, patched-1 (PTCH1) protein, opioid receptor NOP, and phosphodiesterase enzymes PDE3A and PDE5A. Considering the role of these targets in the pathophysiology of depression and anxiety, our findings suggest novel putative mechanisms of action of vitamin D as well as new promising molecular targets whose role in these disorders deserves further investigation. Full article
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