ADVERTISEMENT
Vitamin D Polygenic Risk Scores Not Associated With MS Outcomes
While positively linked with circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D), genetically determined levels of 25[OH]D were not associated with worse outcomes in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to study results published online in Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation.
“As a result, equipoise persists as to whether vitamin D supplementation confers any benefit about MS outcomes including relapse risk and new lesion formation,” researchers wrote. “Our results add to this body of evidence suggesting a lack of benefit of modulation of 25(OH)D levels for improving MS outcomes.”
As part of the study, researchers generated polygenic scores (PGS) of 25(OH)D for 1924 patients with MS with available genotyping data, 935 of whom also had circulating 25(OH)D levels measured. They also assessed for any links between 25(OH)D PGS and several MS outcomes.
>>News: Novel Method Measures Whole-Brain Propagation Delays in Patients with MS
The meta-analysis included the following clinical and imaging outcomes: expanded disability status scale (EDSS), timed 25-foot walk (T25FW), nine-hole peg test (9HPT), radiologic activity, and optical coherence tomography-derived ganglion cell inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness.
According to the study, generated 25(OH)D PGS were strongly associated with circulating 25(OH)D levels but not with clinical outcomes. Specifically, researchers found no relationship between 25(OH)D PGS and relapses, worsening scores on the Expanded Disability Status Scale, changes in the timed 25-foot walk, or changes in Nine-Hole Peg Test.
Additionally, 25(OH)D PGS were not associated with new lesion development, lesion volume, or other imaging-based outcomes, including whole brain, gray, or white matter volume loss or ganglion cell inner plexiform layer thinning, the study showed.
“This finding is largely in-line with larger randomized clinical trials on vitamin D supplementation and raises questions about the plausibility of a treatment effect of vitamin D in established MS,” researchers wrote. “Future research is warranted to understand whether similar findings exist in more racially and ethnically representative populations.”
Reference
