Interdependence and contributions of sun exposure and vitamin D to MRI measures in multiple sclerosis

1. Robert Zivadinov1, 
2. Cierra N Treu2, 
3. Bianca Weinstock-Guttman3, 
4. Caitlin Turner2,
5. Niels Bergsland1, 
6. Kerri O’Connor2, 
7. Michael G Dwyer1, 
8. Ellen Carl1, 
9. Deepa P Ramasamy1,
10. Jun Qu2, 
11. Murali Ramanathan2,3

1. 
   
   ¹Department of Neurology, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA
2. 
   
   ²Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA
3. 
   
   ³Department of Neurology, Multiple Sclerosis Center, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA

1. Correspondence toProfessor M Ramanathan, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo, 355 Kapoor Hall, Buffalo, NY 14214-8033, USA; Murali@Buffalo.Edu

• Received 24 November 2012
• Revised 3 January 2013
• Accepted 10 January 2013

Purpose To assess the relationships of sun exposure history, supplementation and environmental factors to vitamin D levels in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and to evaluate the associations between sun exposure and MRI measures.

Methods This study included 264 MS patients (mean age 46.9±10 years, disease duration 14.6±10 years; 67.8% relapsing–remitting, 28% secondary progressive and 4.2% primary progressive MS) and 69 healthy controls. Subjects underwent neurological and 3 T MRI examinations, provided blood samples and answered questions to a structured questionnaire. Information on race, skin and eye colour, supplement use, body mass index (BMI) and sun exposure was obtained by questionnaire. The vitamin D metabolites (25-hydroxy vitamin D3, 1, 25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 and 24, 25-dihydroxy vitamin D3) were measured using mass spectrometry.

Results ——- Continue reading

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