Due to the high global prevalence of depression and the frequent ineffectiveness of treatment with classical antidepressant / psychotherapy approaches, we investigated the potential of vitamin D supplementation as stand-alone or adjunctive therapy in either prevention or treatment of
depression in a systematic review of research findings. The involvement of vitamin D in depression is indicated by increased expression of genes for vitamin D receptors in brain areas associated with mood regulation and the fact that vitamin D deficiency is very common in patients with depression. Our review included 23 randomized clinical trials in populations with different characteristics and
with different treatment regimens. We found that the addition of vitamin D has a positive effect in the prevention and treatment of postpartum depression, in overweight people (as adjunctive therapy or in combination with Mg, Ca or Zn) and in the form of parenteral administration (intramuscularly, as stand-alone or adjunctive therapy). We also found a positive effect on reducing the concentration of pro-inflammatory factors while alleviating the symptoms of depression after the intervention, which suggests that the anti-inflammatory effect of vitamin D has a positive effect in regulating the symptoms of depression. For further studies, we suggest less heterogeneity in determining inclusion/exclusion criteria in the selection of participants, inclusion of exclusively
depressed people with vitamin D deficiency, monitoring changes in several more parameters (such as pro-inflammatory factors, serotonin, BDNF ... with the already included parameters - serum concentration of calcifediol and points from questionnaires for determining depression symptoms)
and a greater number of men and adolescents involved.
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