Recent Study Shows Low Vitamin D Levels in African Americans with MS

African Americans with MS have significantly lower levels of vitamin D than African Americans who do not have MS, says a new study, but these levels are not linked to disease severity. The authors conclude that larger studies of diverse populations are necessary to fully understand the relationship of MS and vitamin D. Jeffrey Gelfand, MD, Ari Green, MD, and colleagues (University of California, San Francisco) report their findings in Neurology (2011;76:1824–1830). The study was funded by a National MS Society/American Academy of Neurologist Clinician Scientist Award to Dr. Green, and a research grant funding genetic studies in ethnically distinct populations to Jorge Oksenberg, PhD.

Background: A number of genetic and environmental factors influence whether a person will get MS.  These factors may also impact the severity of the disease. Research is increasingly pointing to a reduced level of vitamin D in the blood as a risk factor for developing MS. In lab mice, vitamin D can reduce the effects of EAE, an MS-like disease. The National MS Society is funding several projects in this area, including a new clinical trial getting underway to test whether vitamin D can reduce disease activity in people who have MS.

African Americans are at increased risk for having low vitamin D levels, possibly because melanin, which determines the level of pigment in the skin, acts as a filter of ultraviolet (UV) light, limiting the amount of vitamin D that can be produced by the body in response to sunlight. Generally, the risk of MS in African Americans is around half that of Caucasian Americans. This team previously reported that African Americans tended to have a more aggressive course of disease than Caucasian Americans, were at higher risk for developing mobility impairments, were more likely to develop MS later in life, and were at higher risk for having symptoms restricted to the optic nerve and spinal cord (Neurology 2004;63[11]:2039-45). For this study  they examined vitamin D levels in African Americans with MS to determine any connection between these levels and disease severity in this population.

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