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Decreased vitamin D levels in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2021

Donatella Marazziti Open the ORCID record for Donatella Marazziti [Opens in a new window] ,
Filippo M. Barberi ,
Leonardo Fontenelle Open the ORCID record for Leonardo Fontenelle [Opens in a new window] ,
Beatrice Buccianelli ,
Manuel G. Carbone Open the ORCID record for Manuel G. Carbone [Opens in a new window] ,
Elisabetta Parra ,
Stefania Palermo ,
Lucia Massa ,
Claudia Tagliarini  and
Alessandra Della Vecchia
...Show all authors
Donatella Marazziti*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences, Rome, Italy
Filippo M. Barberi
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Leonardo Fontenelle
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
Beatrice Buccianelli
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Manuel G. Carbone
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine and Surgery, Division of Psychiatry, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
Elisabetta Parra
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Stefania Palermo
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Lucia Massa
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Claudia Tagliarini
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, National Health Service, ASST Cremona, Cremona, Italy
Alessandra Della Vecchia
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Federico Mucci
Affiliation:
Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
Alessandro Arone
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Liliana Dell’Osso
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
*
*Author for correspondence: Donatella Marazziti, Email: dmarazzi@psico.med.unipi.it
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Abstract

Objective

The present paper compared vitamin D levels in adult patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and explored possible correlations with patients’ characteristics.

Methods

Fifty outpatients with OCD, according to DSM-5 criteria, were included and assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRDS).

Results

All the patients except one showed lower vitamin D levels than normative values (>30 nm/L). Vitamin D values of the whole sample were negatively correlated with Y-BOCS total, compulsion subscale, and some items’ scores, specifically “interference from obsessions,” “distress associated with obsessions,” and “time spent on compulsions”. The same relationships were detected in men, while women showed negative correlations between vitamin D levels and Y-BOCS compulsion subscale and “resistance to compulsions,” “degree of control of compulsions,” “insight” item scores.

Conclusions

Our findings would indicate that vitamin D might be involved in the pathophysiology of OCD, and that it is possibly related to the severity of the disorder and to typical symptoms, with some sex-related peculiarities. Further studies are necessary to support or not our findings and to ascertain the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation in patients with OCD.

Keywords

Vitamin Dcentral nervous systemobsessive-compulsive disorderbiomarkerspharmacological treatments

Information

Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 28 , Issue 5 , October 2023 , pp. 606 - 613
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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