August 1, 2025Open Access

Correlation of Mood Symptoms and the Seasonal Variation of Vitamin D Levels in Taiwanese Mood Disorder Patients and Healthy Individuals: A Comparative Cohort Study

CLChen‐Chung LiuNational Taiwan University CCChao‐Wan ChangNational Taiwan Normal University ICI-M ChenNational Taiwan University Hospital

Key Points

Vitamin D levels show negative correlations with mood symptom severity, especially in patients with seasonal mood disorders.
Significant correlations were observed in bipolar I disorder and major depressive disorder, particularly with HAMD and BDI scores.
Longitudinal analysis tracked mood symptoms and vitamin D levels across four outpatient clinics over three years.
Supports further investigation into vitamin D supplementation as a potential therapeutic strategy for mood disorders.

Abstract

Abstract Background Mood disorders, including major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD), often exhibit mood fluctuations linked to seasonal changes. Vitamin D has been proposed as a biomarker influencing these patterns. Aims 10, with seasonal variations in physiological signs causing moderate to severe impacts on daily life. Pearson correlations were analyzed between vitamin D levels and symptom severity. Results Among the 156 participants (49 with MDD, 52 with bipolar I, 12 with bipolar II, and 43 healthy controls), no significant differences in mean vitamin D levels were observed across diagnoses (bipolar I: 21.41ng/ml, bipolar II: 20.47ng/ml, MDD: 23.38ng/ml, healthy control: 21.01ng/ml). In bipolar I disorder, vitamin D levels showed significant negative correlations with HAMD (r = −0.253, p = 0.0017), BDI (r = −0.304, p 0.001), YMRS (r = −0.170, p = 0.037), and GSS (r = −0.226, p = 0.005). For MDD, significant negative correlations were found with HAMD (r = −0.215, p = 0.013), BDI (r = −0.178, p = 0.041), and YMRS (r = −0.180, p = 0.039), but not with GSS (p = 0.438). In bipolar II disorder, a significant negative correlation was observed only with BDI (r = −0.178, p = 0.041), with no significant relationships detected for YMRS, HAMD, or GSS. In BD (combined bipolar I and II), significant correlations were observed between vitamin D levels and HAMD (r = −0.209, p = 0.004), BDI (r = −0.307, p 0.001), and GSS (r = −0.210, p = 0.003), but not with YMRS. Patients with SAD exhibited stronger negative correlations between vitamin D levels and mood symptoms (YMRS: r = −0.29, p = 0.006; BDI: r = −0.308, p = 0.004) compared to non-SAD patients (YMRS: r = 0.009, p = 0.9; BDI: r = −0.137, p = 0.04). In healthy controls, no significant relationship was identified between vitamin D levels and GSS. Discussion & Conclusions Vitamin D levels, though not diagnostic markers, show potential as monitoring tools due to their negative correlation with mood symptom severity, particularly in seasonal mood patterns. Manic symptoms in unipolar depression correlated with vitamin D levels. The study emphasize the need for further research into vitamin D supplementation as a therapeutic strategy for mood disorders with seasonal variation.

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