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Increased vitamin D levels linked to reduced relapse risk for children with MS
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An increase in vitamin D levels in the blood by 10 ng/mL corresponded with a 34% decrease in relapse rate for children with multiple sclerosis, according to study results.
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco suggested that daily vitamin D supplementation could help lower the risk for relapse.
“Although we do not yet know if vitamin D supplementation will be beneficial for MS patients, the fact that there is a clear association between vitamin D levels and relapse rate provides strong rationale for conducting a clinical trial to measure the potential impact of supplementation,” Ellen M. Mowry, MD, of the department of neurology at the university, said in a press release.
The researchers retrospectively studied blood samples of 110 patients with childhood-onset MS. They followed up on the patients for 1.7 years after collecting the initial sample. A relapse was defined as a worsening of old symptoms or development of new ones. They controlled for use of MS treatment, duration of follow-up care, age, sex and race.
“Among the 110 patients, the mean unadjusted 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 level was 22 ± 9 ng/mL,” they wrote. “Every 10 ng/mL increase in the adjusted 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 level was associated with a 34% decrease in the rate of subsequent relapse.”
The researchers theorized that continued research will develop supplementary evidence that adults who have MS will also have a decreased risk in flare-ups when vitamin D levels are higher.
The study was supported by a National MS Society Sylvia Lawry Fellowship Award and an additional grant from the National MS Society.
Mowry E. Ann Neurol. 2010;doi:10.1002/ana.21972.