Vitamin D Supplementation Reduces Functional Impairment of Hippocampus Caused by Dexamethasone

Vitamin D Supplementation Reduces Functional Impairment of Hippocampus Caused by Dexamethasone

Qiaoer Su,¹ Minjie Pan,² Qiu Wang¹ and Weimin Yang³

¹Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China
²Department of Pediatrics emergency, Children’s Hospital Affiliated to the Medical School of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
³Department of Rehabilitation, Cangnan People’s Hospital, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China

The use of dexamethasone in premature infants has adverse effects on neurological function. Vitamin D is considered to be vital nutrient for neurological diseases. Pups were randomly divided into the control, model and treated groups. Treated group received vitamin D on postnatal day1 (60,000 IU/kg). Following, model and treated group received dexamethasone from postnatal day 2 to postnatal day 4 following tapering doses (0.5, 0.3, and 0.1 mg/kg.d, respectively). Pups’ neurological function was assessed by wire-hanging test and Morris water maze task. And apoptotic cells in hippocampus were counted. Vitamin D effectively improved spatial learning and memory impairment induced by dexamethasone. The protective effects of vitamin D may be related to the modulation of apoptosis. Vitamin D may therefore have a role in bronchopulmonary dysplasia treatment process.

Key words —— bronchopulmonary dysplasia; caspase-3; dexamethasone; hippocampus function; vitamin D

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2025 May, 266(2), 127-134.

Correspondence: Qiaoer Su, Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Nanbaixiang Street, Ouhai District, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province 325000, China.

e-mail: suqiaoernancy@163.com