A new study provides support for the notion that low maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy could increase risk of MS in the offspring, Munger et al. identified 193 individuals with MS whose mothers had provided a serum sample from the pregnancy with the affected child; the serum vitamin D levels in these samples were compared with those from mothers of 331 controls. On average, samples from both groups were in the insufficient vitamin D range; however, mean vitamin D levels were lower in the case samples (13.86 ng/ml) than in the control samples (15.02 ng/ml), and vitamin D deficiency (defined as <12 ng/ml) was linked to a twofold increase in the risk of MS.
References
Munger, K. L. et al. Vitamin D status during pregnancy and risk of multiple sclerosis in offspring of women in the Finnish Maternity Cohort. JAMA Neurol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.4800 (2016)
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Malkki, H. Does low vitamin D level during pregnancy increase the risk of MS?. Nat Rev Neurol 12, 188 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.43
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.43