Table 4.

Effects of vitamin D in experimental models of Parkinson’s disease—in vivo studies.

PD Model	Vitamin D Administration	Effects	References
6-OHDA-induced neurotoxicity in rat	calcitriol (1 μg/mL × 1 mL/kg, i.p. per day)/8 consecutive days	↑ locomotor activity ↑ DA, DOPAC, HVA	[163]
6-OHDA-induced lesion in rat	calcitriol (1 μg/kg)/day by gavage/7 days before 6-OHDA-induced lesion calcitriol (1 μg/kg)/day by gavage/14 days after 6-OHDA-induced lesion	↓ behavioral changes ↓ DA depletion ↑ neuroprotective effects ↑ oxygen consumption rate ↓ mitochondria swelling, H2O2 production, SOD activity ↑ TH, DAT, VDAC, Hsp60 expression	[170]
6-OHDA-induced lesion in mouse	calcitriol (2.56 μg/kg, i.p.)/once every two days (total 4 times)	↓ dopaminergic loss ↓ neuroinflammation ↑ transcriptional VDR, VDR target genes ↑ endothelial P-glycoprotein	[171]
6-OHDA -induced lesion in young adult (4 month old), middle-aged (14 month old) and aged (22 month old) rat	calcitriol (1.0 μg/kg, s.c.)/4 weeks after 6-OHDA (12 μg)/once a day/8 consecutive days	↑ overflow of DA from the lesioned striatum, ↑ striatal DA in the young adult and middle-aged rats ↑ DA in substantia nigra in all age groups	[169]
6-OHDA-induced lesion in mouse	cholecalciferol and/or L-DOPA/2 weeks post lesion	↓ behavioral deficits, ↓ protein associated with dopamine metabolism ↓ biomarkers of oxidative stress ↑ contralateral wall touches, exploratory motor and cognitive activities ↑ TH, DAT, BDNF expression of, while ↓ MAO-B, CD11b, IL-1β and p47phox expression	[172]
6-OHDA-induced lesion in rat	cholecalciferol (1 µg/kg)/21 days, in the absence and presence of physical exercise on a treadmill (30 min, speed of 20 cm/s, once a day/21 days/24 h after 6-OHDA	↑ behavioral changes ↑ DA, DOPAC, TH, DAT ↑ VDR ↓ oxidative stress ↓ nitrite	[173]

BDNF—brain-derived neurotrophic factor; DAT—dopamine transporter; DOPAC—3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid; HVA—homovanillic acid; MAO-B—monoamine oxidase B; 6-OHDA—6-hydroxydopamine; p47phox—component of the NADPH oxidase; PD—Parkinson’s disease; SOD—superoxide dismutase; TH—tyrosine hydroxylase; VDAC—voltage-dependent anion-selective channel protein; VDR—the vitamin D receptor.