The connection between vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is finally being taken seriously by mainstream medicine. It has long been known that there is a striking geographical variation in the incidence of MS. One factor that varies from culture to culture is how much saturated fat is consumed. This plays a part in the geographical incidence of the disease. However, according to information presented in the Journal of Immunology, there is another independent variable that falls into consideration and seems to play an even bigger role in MS: latitude, or the distance from the equator.[1]
The American Journal of Epidemiology published the study conducted by a researcher named M. L. Esparza and his co-workers, who listed countries in order of their mortality rates from MS and compared these with the latitude at which they were found.
Excepting countries where fish consumption is high, there was a very clear correlation between where a country was found in relation to the equator and the incidence of MS.[2] [3]
The relationship between MS and vitamin D, or the vitamin D MS theory, was first proposed by Paul Goldberg in a 1974 issue of the International Journal of Environmental Studies.[4] He believed that MS could be triggered in genetically susceptible people if they got insufficient amounts of sunlight, and therefore insufficient amounts of vitamin D. From his calculations, it was found that it would take about 3,800 international units of vitamin D a day to prevent the onset of MS. Interestingly, after research by Robert P. Heaney, MD;and Co-researchers published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, this exact dose has recently been found to be the amount of vitamin D required to maintain health.[5] With the work of Colleen E. Hayes, PhD; and Co-researchers published in the Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, the vitamin D theory has since been revisited and refined.[6]
Vitamin D is formed in the body from the action of sunlight hitting the skin. Ultraviolet light consists of three wavelengths labeled A, B, and C. Ultraviolet B (UVB) acts on a chemical found in the skin (a by-product of cholesterol metabolism) to form other chemicals which then become vitamin D. This vitamin has been found to be intimately involved in the growth and development of bone. It also is vital to the absorption of calcium from food and its assimilation into the bone.
This particular vitamin also has profound effects on the immune system. It attaches to a specific receptor in cells. This is easy to understand if you think of receptors as locks into which a particular key fits, one such key would be vitamin D. One of the types of cells that hold these receptors is your white blood cells, which are part of your immune system. By conducting a number of tests on animals, Hector F. Deluca and Margherita T. Cantorna have shown that the animal model of MS is stopped from developing or progressing if the correct amount of vitamin D is administered either by supplementation or by UV light. Their findings were published in the FASEB Journal, and supporting evidence can be found in the work of Serge Nataf, MD, PhD; and Co-researchers in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology.[7] [8]
Aside from being intimately involved in the function of our immune system, research conducted by Garcionand Co-researchers, published in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism shows that vitamin D is important to our brain function as well.[9] Vitamin D appears to have protective effects in the brain, which keep the neurons from degrading or being affected by diseases, especially those typified by MS. Interestingly, researchers Ekkehard May, PhD;and Co-researchers have found that in multiple sclerosis, the immunomodulatory potency brought about by vitamin D is equivalent to other currently used immunosuppresants, but without their potential side effects. They published their findings in Current Drug Targets. Inflammation and Allergy.[10]
click here for MS and Vitamin D- part 2
[3] Ponsonby AL, Lucas RM, van der Mei IA. A potential role for UVR and Vitamin D in the induction of Multiple Sclerosis, Type 1 Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis. Photochem Photobiol 2005
[4] Goldberg P. Multiple sclerosis: vitamin D and calcium as environmental determinants of prevalence (a viewpoint). Part 1: sunlight, dietary factors and epidemiology. Int J Environ Studies 1974; 6:19-27
[5] Heaney RP, Davies KM, Chen TC, et al. Human serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol response to extended oral dosing with cholecalciferol. Am J Clin Nutr 2003; 77:204-210
[6] Hayes CE, Cantorna MT, Deluca HF. Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1997:21-27
[7] Deluca HF, Cantorna MT. Vitamin D: its role and uses in immunology. Faseb J 2001; 15:2579-2585.
[8] Nataf S, Garcion E, Darcy F, et al. 1,25 Dihydroxyvitamin D3 exerts regional effects in the central nervous system during experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 1996; 55:904-914.
[9] Garcion E, Wion-Barbot N, Montero-Menei CN, et al. New clues about vitamin D functions in the nervous system. Trends Endocrin Metab 2002; 13:100-105
[10] May E, Asadullah K, Zugel U. Immunoregulation through 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin d3 and its analogs. Curr Drug Targets Inflamm Allergy 2004; 3:377-393