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Beneficial effects of vitamin D on anxiety and depression-like behaviors induced by unpredictable chronic mild stress by suppression of brain oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in rats

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the protective effects of vitamin D (Vit D) on anxiety and depression-like behaviors induced by unpredictable chronic mild stress and brain tissue oxidative damage criteria and neuroinflammation in rats. The rats were treated as follows: (1) control, (2) UCMS, (3–5) Vit D 100, 1000, and 10,000 iu + UCMS. Rats were subjected to UCMS for a total of 4 weeks. During week 4, they received seven training trials. The brains were then collected to examine inflammation and oxidative stress criteria. Pretreatment with Vit D enhanced performances of the rats in the elevated plus maze (EPM) and open field (OF) and forced swimming test (FST). UCMS also increased MDA and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels while decreased CAT, SOD, and thiol. Vit D reversed the effects of UCMS. The results of the current research revealed that Vit D improved UCMS-induced anxiety and depression via decreasing brain oxidative stress and inhibiting neuroinflammation.

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Funding

The authors received financial supports from the Vice Presidency of Research at Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences.

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All data were generated in-house and that no paper mill was used.

Farimah Beheshti: Designed and performed experiments, analyzed the data, and co-wrote the paper.

Hossein Bakhtiari-Dovvombaygi: Performed experiments and co-wrote the paper.

Saeed Izadi: Performed experiments.

Mostafa Zare: Performed experiments.

Hassan Azhdari-Zarmehri: Performed analyses.

Milad Hashemzehi: Analyzed data and co-wrote the paper.

Mahmoud Hosseini: Co-wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Farimah Beheshti.

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Bakhtiari-Dovvombaygi, H., Izadi, S., Zare Moghaddam, M. et al. Beneficial effects of vitamin D on anxiety and depression-like behaviors induced by unpredictable chronic mild stress by suppression of brain oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in rats. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 394, 655–667 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-020-02002-0

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