The Body’s Vitamin Balance is Controlled by the Brain

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen examined vitamin A and how the brain responds to it in a recent study. Although it is necessary for life, its maintenance in the body has not been fully understood until recently.

This is the first time that scientists have discovered a role for the brain in vitamin regulation, which was previously thought to be the responsibility of other organs in the body, including the liver and kidneys. This finding could have implications for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, ranging from anemia to infertility to blindness.

The study, which was initially conducted on rats, discovered that there may be top-down regulation of vitamin A function throughout the body and that the hypothalamus, a part of the brain, may be in charge of regulating its levels.

This study, which was carried out by Professor Peter McCaffery and Dr. Peter Ikhianosimhe Imoesi and published in iScience, demonstrates for the first time that the hypothalamus, which controls numerous bodily functions like temperature, appetite, and thirst, has been linked to the regulation of vitamins in the body.

Vitamin A often referred to as retinol, is necessary for life. It supports vision, the immune system, reproduction, growth, and development of the fetus, as well as the health and operation of several organs, such as the heart, lungs, and brain. Vitamin A is now thought to be crucial for the survival of brain cells and may even be protective against neurodegenerative diseases like motor neuron degeneration.

Vitamin A must be consumed in the diet in the form of leafy green vegetables, orange and yellow vegetables, cow liver, milk, or eggs because the body is unable to produce it on its own. Although it is already known that vitamin A is stored in the liver, nothing is known about how levels are kept in the body up to this point. This delicate balancing act is made more difficult by the fact that excess of it, which is less common, can cause difficulties with vision, the skin, and brain swelling, as well as a disastrous weakening of the immune system.

According to the study, administering extremely modest amounts of vitamin A directly to the rat brain’s hypothalamus had an effect on how much of it was stored in the liver and how much was delivered to body cells through the blood. According to the scientists, this implies that the hypothalamus has a sensor system for vitamin A that regulates how it is transported throughout the body. The study also revealed that the human hypothalamus contains the same kind of cells as those in the rat brain that may function to sense it.

Dr. Imoesi explains, “What we found is radically new. No one before has even suggested that the brain may control vitamin balance in the body and this is the first study to imply a ‘vitaminostatic’ role of the hypothalamus.

“Our results suggest that vitamin A imbalance may not be simply due to irregular intake but that an abnormality in hypothalamic function due to disease or inflammation, may lead to inadequate supply of vitamin A to the body. Diseases that effect the hypothalamus may have some of their symptoms due to disordered vitamin A levels in the body. Measurement of vitamin A levels in the blood may provide a guide to whether the hypothalamus is functioning normally.

“Understanding the regulation of vitamin A balance in the body is important given that both deficiency and excess are detrimental to human health. Worldwide an estimated 250 million people are marginally deficient of vitamin A while 140 million pre-school children and around 7.2 million pregnant women are believed to be vitamin A deficient. Normal hypothalamic function may be necessary to balance vitamin A and act to reduce such harmful effects. ”

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