Author Topic: Does vitamin D level at birth predict risk of MS?  (Read 123 times)

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Offline agate

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Does vitamin D level at birth predict risk of MS?
« on: December 02, 2016, 04:10:47 pm »
Some researchers have found that infants with low vitamin D levels at birth seem to have a greater risk of developing MS, according to this article in Medical News Today, December 1, 2016.

Quote
Does vitamin D level at birth predict risk of MS?


Written by Ana Sandoiu

Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable and often debilitating disease affecting over 2 million people worldwide. Although there is no known cure for the condition, researchers are investigating several avenues for treatment and prevention. New research suggests an intake of vitamin D during pregnancy may lower the risk of later-life multiple sclerosis in offspring.

...



Some previous research has indicated that an increased level of vitamin D may lead to a lower risk of MS.

New research suggests higher levels of vitamin D in pregnant women may help prevent the development of MS for the child in later life.

Assessing levels of neonatal Vitamin D and the risk of MS

Dr. Nete Munk Nielsen, of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, and team conducted a large population-based, case-control study to examine the association between the neonatal status of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) - a marker of vitamin D levels - and MS risk.

The researchers used data from the nationwide Danish MS registry and the Danish Newborn Screening Biobank (DNSB). The DNSB stores dried blood spots samples from newborn screening tests.

They identified and selected everyone born after April 30, 1981, and who had developed MS by 2012. This resulted in a total of 521 people.

Researchers then compared the blood from these people with that of 972 other people of the same sex who had been born on the same date, but who did not develop MS.

The study - published in the journal Neurology - deemed 25OHD levels between 30 nanomoles per liter and lower than 50 nanomoles per liter as insufficient, and levels higher than or equal to 50 nanomoles per liter as sufficient.

Based on their vitamin D level, study participants were divided into five groups. The bottom group had levels lower than 21 nanomoles per liter, while the top group had levels equal to or above 49 nanomoles per liter.

Lower risk of MS found in people with higher Vitamin D levels at birth

The study summed up a total of 136 people with MS and 193 people without the condition in the bottom group of vitamin D levels. In the top group, they gathered only 89 people with MS and 198 without.

Overall, participants with the highest levels of vitamin D were 47 percent less likely to develop MS later in life than those with the lowest levels.

MS risk also seemed to decrease with the increase of 25OHD levels. In fact, for every 25 nanomole per liter increase in neonatal 25OHD, the risk of MS dropped by 30 percent.

According to the authors, their study serves to further confirm the protective role of vitamin D in the development of MS, as well as indicating that vitamin D insufficiency in utero may influence the risk of MS.

"More research is needed to confirm these results, but considering that a high percentage of pregnant women worldwide have low levels of vitamin D our results may provide important information to the ongoing debate about vitamin D supplements for pregnant women."

However, Dr. Nielsen emphasizes  that the study does not demonstrate that increased vitamin D directly reduces the risk of MS, but rather only presents an association.

He goes on to highlight some other limitations of the study, such as the age of the study participants. They were only 30 years old or younger, so the study did not consider people who had developed MS later in life.

Additionally, the data available in the National Biobank only accounted for 67 percent of people born with MS during that period.

The authors also note they cannot exclude the possibility that this positive effect is an indirect result of higher 25OHD levels later in life that just happened to associate with increased levels at birth. In this case, supplementing the vitamin D intake in the mother would not reduce the risk of MS in the offspring.


The article can be seen here.
MS Speaks--online for 17 years

SPMS, diagnosed 1980. Avonex 2001-2004. Copaxone 2007-2010. Glatopa (glatiramer acetate 40mg 3 times/week) since 12/16/20.

Offline agate

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Abstract of the study, from PubMed, December 3, 2016:

Quote
Neurology. 2016 Nov 30.

Neonatal vitamin D status and risk of multiple sclerosis: A population-based case-control study

Nielsen NM1, Munger KL2, Koch-Henriksen N2, Hougaard DM2, Magyari M2, Jørgensen KT2, Lundqvist M2, Simonsen J2, Jess T2, Cohen A2, Stenager E2, Ascherio A2.

Author information

1From the Department of Epidemiology Research (N.M.N., K.T.J., J.S., T.J.) and the Danish Centre for Neonatal Screening, Department for Congenital Disorders (D.M.H., M.L., A.C.), Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark; Departments of Nutrition (K.L.M., A.A.) and Epidemiology (A.A.), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry (N.K.-H., M.M., E.S.), Danish Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Department of Neurology, University of Copenhagen (M.M.), and Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Centre, Department of Neurology, Neuroscience Centre (M.M.), Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; Institute of Regional Health Research (E.S.), University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, and National Institute of Public Health (E.S.), University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen; Department of Neurology (E.S.), Multiple Sclerosis Clinic of Southern Jutland (Sønderborg, Vejle, Esbjerg), Sønderborg, Denmark; Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Clinical Institute (N.K.-H.), University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark; and Channing Division of Network Medicine (A.A.), Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. NMN@ssi.dk.

2From the Department of Epidemiology Research (N.M.N., K.T.J., J.S., T.J.) and the Danish Centre for Neonatal Screening, Department for Congenital Disorders (D.M.H., M.L., A.C.), Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark; Departments of Nutrition (K.L.M., A.A.) and Epidemiology (A.A.), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry (N.K.-H., M.M., E.S.), Danish Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Department of Neurology, University of Copenhagen (M.M.), and Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Centre, Department of Neurology, Neuroscience Centre (M.M.), Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; Institute of Regional Health Research (E.S.), University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, and National Institute of Public Health (E.S.), University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen; Department of Neurology (E.S.), Multiple Sclerosis Clinic of Southern Jutland (Sønderborg, Vejle, Esbjerg), Sønderborg, Denmark; Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Clinical Institute (N.K.-H.), University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark; and Channing Division of Network Medicine (A.A.), Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

OBJECTIVE:


As previous research has suggested that exposure to vitamin D insufficiency in utero may have relevance for the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), we aimed to examine the direct association between level of neonatal vitamin D and risk of MS.

METHODS:

We carried out a matched case-control study. Dried blood spots samples (DBSS) belonging to 521 patients with MS were identified in the Danish Newborn Screening Biobank. For every patient with MS, 1-2 controls with the same sex and birth date were retrieved from the Biobank (n = 972). Level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) in the DBSS was measured using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy. The association between different levels of 25(OH)D and risk of MS was evaluated by odds ratios (OR) calculated in conditional logistic regression models.

RESULTS:

We observed that lower levels of 25(OH)D in neonates were associated with an increased risk of MS. In the analysis by quintiles, MS risk was highest among individuals in the bottom quintile (<20.7 nmol/L) and lowest among those in the top quintile of 25(OH)D (≥48.9 nmol/L), with an OR for top vs bottom of 0.53 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.36-0.78). In the analysis treating 25(OH)D as a continuous variable, a 25 nmol/L increase in neonatal 25(OH)D resulted in a 30% reduced risk of MS (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.57-0.84).

CONCLUSION:

Low concentrations of neonatal vitamin D are associated with an increased risk of MS. In light of the high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency among pregnant women, our observation may have importance for public health.

This abstract can be seen here.
MS Speaks--online for 17 years

SPMS, diagnosed 1980. Avonex 2001-2004. Copaxone 2007-2010. Glatopa (glatiramer acetate 40mg 3 times/week) since 12/16/20.

Offline agate

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From NEJM Journal Watch Neurology, December 1, 2016:

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Higher Vitamin D Level in Newborns Associated with Reduced MS Risk Later

By Robert T. Naismith, MD

Dr. Naismith is an associate editor with NEJM Journal Watch Neurology, from which this story was adapted. ...

Higher serum vitamin D in the neonatal period is associated with reduced risk for multiple sclerosis years later, a Neurology study suggests.

The Danish Newborn Screening Biobank, which includes dried heel-prick blood samples from neonates, was linked to the Danish MS Registry so patients meeting MS criteria could be evaluated for newborn serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels compared with sex- and age-matched controls.

The analysis included some 520 newborns who developed MS over the next three decades and 970 controls. Mean neonatal vitamin D levels were significantly higher in controls than cases (35.9 vs. 33.0 nmol/L). The lowest vitamin D quintile conferred a 1.9-fold increased risk for MS compared with the highest quintile. Similarly, each 25-nmol/L increase in vitamin D conferred a 30% reduced risk for MS.

Comment:
Although the evidence is not sufficient to recommend vitamin D to all mothers, it is reasonable to supplement 1000 to 2000 IU daily to high-risk mothers who have serum vitamin D levels <50 nmol/L (<20 ng/mL) and an immediate family member with MS.
MS Speaks--online for 17 years

SPMS, diagnosed 1980. Avonex 2001-2004. Copaxone 2007-2010. Glatopa (glatiramer acetate 40mg 3 times/week) since 12/16/20.

 

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