Vitamin D supplement may benefit MS patients’ immune systems

A great deal of studies have associated low levels of vitamin D with increased risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). Additionally, among people who have MS, low vitamin D levels have been linked to greater disability and more severe symptoms.

Vitamin D supplementation could be a safe and cost-effective treatment strategy for individuals with multiple sclerosis, according to new research published in the journal Neurology. With the aim of finding out, study coauthor Dr. Peter A. Calabresi, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, and colleagues analyzed the effects of vitamin D supplementation among 40 adults aged 18-55 with relapsing-remitting MS.

For the study, 40 people with relapsing-remitting MS received either 10,400 IU or 800 IU of vitamin D3 supplements per day for six months. The current recommended daily allowance of vitamin D3 is 600 IU. Blood tests at the start of the study and again at three and six months measured the amount of vitamin D in the blood and the response in the immune system’s T cells, which play a key role in MS.

Side effects from the vitamin supplements were minor and were not different between the people taking the high dose and the people taking the low dose. One person in each group had a relapse of disease activity.

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The people taking the high dose had a reduction in the percentage of T cells related to MS activity. When the increase in vitamin D in the blood was greater than 18 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml), every 5 ng/ml increase in vitamin D led to a one percent decrease in the percentage of interleukin 17 T cells in the blood. The people taking the low dose did not have any changes in their T cells.

While researchers are still determining the optimal level of vitamin D in the blood for people with MS, the people in the study taking the high dose of vitamin D reached a level that has been proposed as a target for people with MS. Vitamin D levels above 30 ng/ml are considered sufficient for the general population, but researchers noted that for people with MS, it may be that levels above 50 ng/ml are necessary to reduce disease activity. The group taking the low dose did not reach this target.

“These results are exciting, as vitamin D has the potential to be an inexpensive, safe and convenient treatment for people with MS,” said study author Peter A. Calabresi, MD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. “More research is needed to confirm these findings with larger groups of people and to help us understand the mechanisms for these effects, but the results are promising.”

The precise cause of MS is unknown, but researchers believe it involves a combination of genetic vulnerability and certain environmental triggers. Inadequate vitamin D — a nutrient needed for normal immune function — is considered one of the suspects.

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