Neonatal Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis in Adulthood

Higher levels of vitamin D in newborns were associated with less MS in subsequent decades in a Danish registry study.

Several studies have evaluated the role of vitamin D in the perinatal period and risk for multiple sclerosis (MS), but the topic remains controversial and difficult to study. Whereas some studies used blood samples from the mothers, the present investigators utilized available child blood samples from a large registry. The Danish Newborn Screening Biobank includes dried heel-prick blood samples on about 1.8 million births since 1981. The Danish MS Registry was cross-linked so patients meeting MS criteria could be evaluated for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (vitamin D) levels in neonates compared with sex- and age-matched controls. Perinatal confounders included gestational age, birthweight, Apgar score, ethnicity, and maternal age at birth.

Incl…

Reviewing Author

Robert T. Naismith, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardAlexion Pharmaceuticals; Amgen; Astoria; Biogen; Bristol Myers Squibb; Celltrion; Genentech; Hoffmann-La Roche; Genzyme; EMD Serono; Immpact-Bio; Immunic Therapeutics; Kyverna; Lundbeck; Novartis; Sandoz; TG Therapeutics

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health; National Multiple Sclerosis Society; U.S. Department of Defense

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesConsortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (Treasurer)

Robert T. Naismith, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health; National Multiple Sclerosis Society; U.S. Department of Defense

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesConsortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (Treasurer)

Neonatal Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis in Adulthood

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Reviewing Author