Observational studyThe American journal of clinical nutrition2022
Vitamin D and brain health: an observational and Mendelian randomization study.
Observational study in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 2 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
52 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vitamin D and human health: evidence from Mendelian randomization studies.European journal of epidemiology · 2024Pooled it
- Tooth loss and the risk of cognitive decline and dementia: A meta-analysis of cohort studies.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Metabolic signatures, vitamin D, and red cell distribution width in dementia risk: UK Biobank insights.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Dietary Patterns, Micronutrient Adequacy, and Metabolic Vulnerability in Alzheimer's Disease: A Critical Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Association of Vitamin D and B12 Levels with Actigraphic Sleep in Cognitively Unimpaired Middle-Aged and Older Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Article
- Modulating the Gut-Microbiota-Brain Axis in Alzheimer's Disease: Therapeutic Potential of Nutritional and Metabolic Factors.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Review
- The mechanisms and strategies for Alzheimer's disease prevention: An update.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2026Review
- Plant-derived soft electrophiles upregulate pro-resolving oxylipins in a paraquat-inducedbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Vitamin D-Mediated Immunoregulation in Degenerative Diseases: Insights into Cardiovascular, Neurodegenerative and Musculoskeletal Disorders.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Dynamic regulation and targeted interventions of macrophages in ischemia-reperfusion injury.Journal of advanced research · 2026Review
- From muscle to brain: the mediating effect of vitamin D in the relationship between muscle loss and cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Increased risk of incident dementia associated with vitamin D deficiency in glaucoma patients: a TriNetX cohort study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Ferroptosis in Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: Mechanisms and the Therapeutic Potential of Vitamin D/VDR Signaling.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Gut: The gate and key to brain.Chinese medical journal · 2025Review
- Effects of Consuming Ultraviolet Light-Exposed Mushrooms on Self-Reported Indices of Brain Health and Performance-Based Cognition in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The role of serum vitamins in mediating the effect of neurodegenerative diseases on subcortical brain volume.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2025Article
- Extent of Unidentified Complaints and Depression Is Inversely Associated with Fish and Shellfish Intake in Young Japanese Women.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Prevalence of Reported Dietary Supplement Use in 2019 Older Adult (≥ 55 Years) National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Participants With Normal Cognition, Mild Cognitive Impairment or Dementia.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Article
- Uncovering mediational pathways behind racial and socioeconomic disparities in brain volumes: insights from the UK Biobank study.GeroScience · 2025Article
- Mediating and moderating effects of plasma proteomic biomarkers on the association between poor oral health problems and brain white matter microstructural integrity: the UK Biobank study.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHigher vitamin D status has been suggested to have beneficial effects on the brain.
objectivesTo investigate the association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], neuroimaging features, and the risk of dementia and stroke.
methodsWe used prospective data from the UK Biobank (37-73 y at baseline) to examine the association between 25(OH)D concentrations with neuroimaging outcomes (N = 33,523) and the risk of dementia and stroke (N = 427,690; 3414 and 5339 incident cases, respectively). Observational analyses were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, month, center, and socioeconomic, lifestyle, sun behavior, and illness-related factors. Nonlinear Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were used to test for underlying causality for neuroimaging outcomes (N = 23,901) and dementia and stroke (N = 294,514; 2399 and 3760 cases, respectively).
resultsAssociations between 25(OH)D and total, gray matter, white matter, and hippocampal volumes were nonlinear, with lower volumes both for low and high concentrations (adjusted P-nonlinear ≤ 0.04). 25(OH)D had an inverse association with white matter hyperintensity volume [per 10 nmol/L 25(OH)D; adjusted β: -6.1; 95% CI: -11.5, -7.0]. Vitamin D deficiency was associated with an increased risk of dementia and stroke, with the strongest associations for those with 25(OH)D <25 nmol/L (compared with 50-75.9 nmol/L; adjusted HR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.57, 2.04 and HR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.26, 1.56, respectively). Nonlinear MR analyses confirmed the threshold effect of 25(OH)D on dementia, with the risk predicted to be 54% (95% CI: 1.21, 1.96) higher for participants at 25 nmol/L compared with 50 nmol/L. 25(OH)D was not associated with neuroimaging outcomes or the risk of stroke in MR analyses. Potential impact fraction suggests 17% (95% CI: 7.22, 30.58) of dementia could be prevented by increasing 25(OH)D to 50 nmol/L.
conclusionsLow vitamin D status was associated with neuroimaging outcomes and the risks of dementia and stroke even after extensive covariate adjustment. MR analyses support a causal effect of vitamin D deficiency on dementia but not on stroke risk.
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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.