SynthesisMolecular psychiatry2021
Vitamin D and schizophrenia: 20 years on.
Synthesis in Molecular psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 114 citations in OpenAlex.
- Initial physical health assessment for psychosis in Australia and New Zealand: 2026 recommendations.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Guideline
- Prevalences of Anorexia, Autism, and Schizophrenia, Are Strongly Associated With Average Annual Temperatures: Systematic Review and Linear Regression Analysis.Brain and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Nutraceuticals in Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy of vitamin D supplementation on depressive symptoms in older patients: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Relevance of diet in schizophrenia: a review focusing on prenatal nutritional deficiency, obesity, oxidative stress and inflammation.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Severe Vitamin D Deficiency-A Possible Cause of Resistance to Treatment in Psychiatric Pathology.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Pooled it
- Association between vitamin D concentration and delirium in hospitalized patients: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- High-Dose Vitamin D3 Supplementation During Pregnancy and Test-Based Cognitive Performance at Age 10 Years: A Post Hoc Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Outcomes in People With Early Psychosis: The DFEND Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2021Trial
- Delayed Pathogenicity inMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Vitamin D Signaling in Neurodegenerative Disorders: Mechanisms, Therapeutic Potential, and Clinical Implications.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Vitamin D as a Lifespan Neuroimmune Signal in Psychiatry: From Developmental Risk to Precision Nutrition.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Vitamin D and Vitamin BDiseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Antidepressant Augmentation of Antipsychotic Treatment in Schizophrenia: A Narrative Review.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2026Review
- LncRNA THUMPD3-AS1 Regulates Behavioral and Synaptic Structural Abnormalities in Schizophrenia via miR-485-5p and ARHGAP8.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Elucidating the Complex Etiology of Schizophrenia: Comprehensive Insights into the Therapeutic Roles of Natural Compounds and Pharmacological Interventions.Current pharmaceutical design · 2026Review
- Clinical practice guidelines for management of schizophrenia in India: A comprehensive overview.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- The Neuroprotective Potential of Vitamin DNutrients · 2025Review
- Vitamin D in Disease Prevention and Cure-Part I: An Update on Molecular Mechanism and Significance on Human Health.Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB · 2025Review
- Sun Exposure and Anorexia Nervosa: A Potential Environmental-Biological Interaction?Early intervention in psychiatry · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many epidemiological studies have highlighted the link between vitamin D deficiency and schizophrenia. In particular, two prominent studies report an association between neonatal vitamin D deficiency and an increased risk of schizophrenia. In parallel, much has been learnt about the role of vitamin D in the developing central nervous system over the last two decades. Studies in rodent models of developmental vitamin D (DVD)-deficiency describe how brain development is altered leading to a range of neurobiological and behavioral phenotypes of interest to schizophrenia. While glutamate and gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) systems have been little investigated in these models, alterations in developing dopamine systems are frequently reported. There have been far more studies reporting patients with schizophrenia have an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency compared to well controls. Here we have conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis that basically confirms this association and extends this to first-episode psychosis. However, patients with schizophrenia also have poorer general health, poorer diets, are frequently less active and also have an increased risk of other medical conditions, all factors which reduce circulating vitamin D levels. Therefore, we would urge caution in any causal interpretation of this association. We also summarize the inconsistent results from existing vitamin D supplementation trials in patients with schizophrenia. In respect to animal models of adult vitamin D deficiency, such exposures produce subtle neurochemical alterations and effects on cognition but do not appear to produce behavioral phenotypes of relevance to schizophrenia. We conclude, the hypothesis that vitamin D deficiency during early life may increase the risk of schizophrenia remains plausible and warrants ongoing research.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.