Vitamin D
Vitamin D is made up of a group of fat-soluble vitamins (calciferol and cholecalciferol in humans) that are most well-known for bone health. However, vitamin D has many other important roles, including magnesium metabolism, anti-oxidant action, regulating inflammation, modulating glutamate excitotoxicity, serotonin synthesis, neuroplasticity, and neuroprotection [Ekinci, 2023; Eyles, 2021; Martami, 2024; Nakajo, 2021].
Low vitamin D levels are linked to neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative processes that underpin conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis [Garcia-Menendez, 2024; Oliveira, 2017]. In addition, low vitamin D levels increase the risk of depression [Sherchand, 2018]. Low vitamin D levels increase the risk of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and dizziness [Wu, 2022].
People with migraine have lower vitamin D levels than those without migraine [Togha, 2018]. In fact, more frequent and severe migraine attacks occur in those with lower vitamin D levels [Hussein, 2019; Song, 2018]. Supplementing with vitamin D can improve migraine control [Ghorbani, 2020; Zhang, 2021].
Vitamin D supplementation can also improve cognitive performance [Hu, 2018], reduce anxiety and depression [Zaromytidou, 2022], and relieve the negative effects of chronic stress [Renteria, 2023].
References
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Eyles DW. Vitamin D. Brain and behavior. JBMR Plus 2021;5:e10419
Garcia-Menendez S, Manucha W. Vitamin D as a modulator of neuroinflammation: implications for brain health. Curr Pharm Des 2024;30:323-32
Ghorbani Z, Togha M, Rafiee P, et al. Vitamin D3 migraine improve headache characteristics and protect against inflammation in migraine: a randomized clinical trial. Neurol Sci 2020;41:1183-92
Hu J, Jia J, Zhang Y, et al. Effects of Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Cognition and Blood Lipids:A 12-Month Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-controlled Trial. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2018;89:1341–7
Hussein M., Fathy W., Abd Elkareem R.M. The potential role of serum vitamin D level in migraine headache: A case–control study. J. Pain Res. 2019;12:2529–2536
Martami F, Holton KF. Targeting glutamate neurotoxicity through dietary manipulation: potential treatment for migraine. Nutrients 2023;15:3952
Nakajo T, Katayoshi T, Kitajima N, Tsuji-Naito K. 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D attenuates Il-1β secretion by suppressing Nlrp1 Inflammasome activation by upregulating the Nrf2-ho-1 pathway in epidermal keratinocytes. Redox Biol. (2021) 48:102203
Oliveira SR, Simao ANC, Alfieri DF. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with disability and disease progression in multiple sclerosis patients independently of oxidative and nitrosative stress. J Neurol Sci 2017;381:213-9
Renteria K, Nguyen H, Koh GY. The role of vitamin D in depression and anxiety disorders: a review of the literature. Nutr Neurosci 2023;2023:1-9
Sherchand O, Sapkota N, Chaudhari RK, et al. Association between vitamin D deficiency and depression in Nepalese population. Psychiatry Res 2018;267:266-71
Song T.-J., Chu M.-K., Sohn J.-H., et al. Effect of Vitamin D Deficiency on the Frequency of Headaches in Migraine. J. Clin. Neurol. 2018;14:366–373
Togha M., Razeghi Jahromi S., Ghorbani Z., et al. Serum vitamin d status in a group of migraine patients compared with healthy controls: a case–control study. Headache2018;58:1530–1540
Wu Y, et al. Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are associated with residual dizziness after successful treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Front Neurol 2022;13:915239
Zaromytidou E, Koufakis T, Dimakopoulos G, et al. Vitamin D alleviates anxiety and depression in elderly people with prediabetes: a randomized controlled study. Meta 2022;12:884
Zhang Y.-F., Xu Z.-Q., Zhou H.-J., Liu Y.-Z., Jiang X.-J. The Efficacy of Vitamin D supplementation for migraine: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. ClinNeuropharmacol 2021;44:5–8
