Neuroscienze e nutrizione: La Vitamina D può ridurre la depressione nelle donne
Vitamin D intake from foods and supplements and depressive symptoms in a diverse population of older women.
English/Italiano
Bertone-Johnson ER, Powers SI, Spangler L, Brunner RL, Michael YL, Larson JC, Millen AE, Bueche MN, Salmoirago-Blotcher E, Liu S, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Ockene JK, Ockene I, Manson JE.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2011. Doi: 10.3945/ajcn.111.017384
ABSTRACT
Vitamin D may plausibly reduce the occurrence of depression in postmenopausal women; however, epidemiologic evidence is limited, and few prospective studies have been conducted. We conducted a cross-sectional and prospective analysis of vitamin D intake from foods and supplements and risk of depressive symptoms. Study participants were 81,189 members of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study who were aged 50-79 y at baseline. Vitamin D intake at baseline was measured by food-frequency and supplement-use questionnaires. Depressive symptoms at baseline and after 3 y were assessed by using the Burnam scale and current antidepressant medication use. After age, physical activity, and other factors were controlled for, women who reported a total intake of ≥800 IU vitamin D/d had a prevalence OR for depressive symptoms of 0.79 (95% CI: 0.71, 0.89; P-trend < 0.001) compared with women who reported a total intake of <100 IU vitamin D/d. In analyses limited to women without evidence of depression at baseline, an intake of ≥400 compared with <100 IU vitamin D/d from food sources was associated with 20% lower risk of depressive symptoms at year 3 (OR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.67, 0.95; P-trend = 0.001). The results for supplemental vitamin D were less consistent, as were the results from secondary analyses that included as cases women who were currently using antidepressant medications. Overall, our findings support a potential inverse association of vitamin D, primarily from food sources, and depressive symptoms in postmenopausal women. Additional prospective studies and randomized trials are essential in establishing whether the improvement of vitamin D status holds promise for the prevention of depression, the treatment of depression, or both.
Commento
Un corpo esposto a luce solare produce vitamina D. Nei Paesi del Nord i livelli di esposizione sono così deboli durante i mesi invernali che il corpo non produce questa vitamina. Il che significa che i supplementi dietetici e gli alimenti fortificati sono l’unico modo per aumentare la sua assunzione. L'assunzione di una quantità superiore a 800 unità internazionali, tramite il consumo di alimenti che la contengono, è associata ad una riduzione del 21% dei sintomi depressivi nelle donne durante il periodo della menopausa. Questa osservazione è relativa ad uno studio condotto su 81.189 partecipanti di sesso femminile. L’assunzione della vitamina è stata misurata all'inizio dello studio mentre i sintomi della depressione sono stati testati utilizzando una scala ben consolidata.
