Summary: A new study reports of an increased risk for developing multiple sclerosis later in life for babies born with lower levels of vitamin D.
Source: AAN.
Babies born with low levels of vitamin D may be more likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life than babies with higher levels of vitamin D, according to a study published in the November 30, 2016, online issue of Neurology.
“More research is needed to confirm these results, but our results may provide important information to the ongoing debate about vitamin D for pregnant women,” said study author Nete Munk Nielsen, MD, MSc, PhD, of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In Denmark, dried blood spots samples from newborn screening tests are stored in the Danish National Biobank. Researchers identified everyone in Denmark who was born since April 30, 1981, had onset of MS by 2012 and whose dried blood spots samples were included in the biobank. The blood from those 521 people was then compared to that of 972 people of the same sex and birthday who did not have MS. In this study, newborns with levels of vitamin D less than 30 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L) were considered born with deficient levels. Levels of 30 to less than 50 nmol/L were considered insufficient and levels higher than or equal to 50 nmol/L were considered sufficient.
The study participants were divided into five groups based on vitamin D level, with the bottom group having levels of less than 21 nmol/L and the top group with levels higher than or equal to 49 nmol/L. There were 136 people with MS and 193 people without MS in the bottom group. In the top group, there were 89 people with MS and 198 people without the disease. Those in the top group appeared to be 47 percent less likely to develop MS later in life than those in the bottom group.
Nielsen emphasizes that the study does not prove that increasing vitamin D levels reduces the risk of MS.
The study has several limitations. Dried blood spots samples were only available for vitamin D analysis for 67 percent of people with MS born during the time period. Vitamin D levels were based on one measurement. Study participants were 30 years old or younger, so the study does not include people who developed MS at an older age. In addition, the Danish population is predominantly white, so the results may not be generalizable to other populations. Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that this apparent beneficial effect could be mediated through other factors in later life such as vitamin D levels, in which case a possible maternal vitamin D supplementation would not reduce the MS risk in the offspring.
Sources of vitamin D are diet, supplements and the sun. Dietary vitamin D is primarily found in fatty fish such as salmon or mackerel. Levels of vitamin D should be within the recommended levels, neither too low nor too high.
Funding: The study was supported by the Danish Society of Multiple Sclerosis, Aase & Ejnar Danielsen’s Foundation, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and U.S. National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Source: Renee Tessman – AAN
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Abstract for “Neonatal vitamin D status and risk of multiple sclerosis: A population-based case-control study” by Nete Munk Nielsen, Kassandra L. Munger, Nils Koch-Henriksen, David M. Hougaard, Melinda Magyari, Kristian T. Jørgensen, Marika Lundqvist, Jacob Simonsen, Tine Jess, Arieh Cohen, Egon Stenager, and Alberto Ascherio in Neurology. Published online November 30 2016 doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000003454
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]AAN. “Increased Risk of Multiple Sclerosis For Those Born With Low Vitamin D Levels.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 2 December 2016.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/birth-vitamin-d-ms-5662/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]AAN. (2016, December 2). Increased Risk of Multiple Sclerosis For Those Born With Low Vitamin D Levels. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved December 2, 2016 from https://neurosciencenews.com/birth-vitamin-d-ms-5662/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]AAN. “Increased Risk of Multiple Sclerosis For Those Born With Low Vitamin D Levels.” https://neurosciencenews.com/birth-vitamin-d-ms-5662/ (accessed December 2, 2016).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Abstract
Neonatal vitamin D status and risk of multiple sclerosis: A population-based case-control study
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.
“Neonatal vitamin D status and risk of multiple sclerosis: A population-based case-control study” by Nete Munk Nielsen, Kassandra L. Munger, Nils Koch-Henriksen, David M. Hougaard, Melinda Magyari, Kristian T. Jørgensen, Marika Lundqvist, Jacob Simonsen, Tine Jess, Arieh Cohen, Egon Stenager, and Alberto Ascherio in Neurology. Published online November 30 2016 doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000003454