neuroprotective effects of vitamin d on patients with traumatic brain injury: a clinical trial

 background and aim: traumatic brain injury (tbi) is a globally-critical socioeconomic and public health problem. introducing medications and strategies to treat and improve the prognosis of tbi is crucial. current literature not only supports the key role of vitamin d on normal brain function, but also helps recovering from a myriad of pathologies. the present research was conducted to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of vitamin d on patients with tbi presenting to imam khomeini hospital, sari, iran.methods and materials/patients: this randomized clinical trial assigned patients with vitamin d levels of over30 ng/ml to an intervention group (n=42) and a control group (n=42), who respectively received a single dose (150,000 units) of vitamin d and a placebo upon admission. the glasgow coma score (gcs)and mortality were recorded at the beginning of the study and three months after the final prescription.results: the mean gcs score upon admission was obtained as 8.64±2.29 in the vitamin d group and 8.42±2.93 in the placebo group. this score was respectively obtained as 13.50±1.85 and 10.97±2.37 upon discharge, suggesting a significant difference as per the t-test (p=0.04).the mean glasgow outcome score (gos) upon discharge was obtained as 4.24±1.51 in the intervention group and 4.10±1.40in the controls. the t-test suggested insignificant differences in the gos between the two groups upon admission (p=0.823). after three months, the gos respectively reaching desirable levels in 49.7% and 62.8% of cases in the placebo and intervention groups revealed statistically significant differences among the two groups (p=0.03).conclusion: the present results showed the improving effects of vitamin d on level of consciousness and outcomes in patients with acute tbi. more studies are suggested to be performed to investigate the effects of other medications, including amantadine and methylphenidate with a larger sample size.