Profiling inflammatory mechanisms, hyperphosphorylated tau of hippocampal tissue and spatial memory following vitamin D3 treatment in the mice model of vascular dementia

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of vitamin D3 (VitD3) on inflammatory mecha-nisms, hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) in the hippocampus, and cognitive impairment of the mouse model of vascular dementia (VaD).Methods: In this study, 32 male mice were randomly assigned to the control, VaD, VitD3 (300 IU/Kg/day), and VitD3 (500 IU/Kg/day) groups. VaD and VitD3 groups were gavaged daily for 4 weeks with a gastric needle. For biochemical assessments, blood samples and the hippocampus were isolated. IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha were analyzed by ELISA, and p-tau and other inflammatory molecules were measured by western blot.Results: VitD3 supplements significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the level of inflammatory factors in the hippo-campus and prevented apoptosis. However, regarding p-tau in hippocampal tissue, this decrease was not sta-tistically significant (P > 0.05). The results of behavioral assessments showed that VitD3 significantly improved the spatial memory of treated mice.Conclusion: These results suggest that the neuroprotective effects of VitD3 are mainly associated with their anti-inflammatory effects.