Vitamin D deficiency diminishes the severity and delays onset of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

• Published in: Archives of biochemistry and biophysics Vol. 513; no. 2; pp. 140 - 143
• Main Authors: DeLuca, Hector F., Plum, Lori A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15-09-2011
• Subjects: Animal models; Animals; Autoimmune disease; autoimmune diseases; Calcitriol - administration & dosage; calcium; Calcium - blood; Calcium, Dietary - administration & dosage; cholecalciferol; diet; encephalitis; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental - complications; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental - immunology; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental - prevention & control; Female; hypercalcemia; Immunization; Male; Mice; Multiple sclerosis; Myelin Basic Protein - immunology; Paralysis; Pregnancy; sclerosis; Time Factors; Vitamin D - immunology; vitamin D deficiency; Vitamin D Deficiency - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - complications; Vitamin D Deficiency - immunology; Vitamin D function; Autoimmune disease; Multiple sclerosis; Vitamin D function; Paralysis
• ISSN: 0003-9861; 1096-0384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2011.07.005

► Severe vitamin D deficiency reduces severity and onset of EAE in susceptible mice. ► Administration of vitamin D largely restores susceptibility to EAE. ► The findings do not support the idea that incidence of MS is increased by D deficiency.
Multiple sclerosis incidence is clearly inversely related to sun exposure. This observation led to the idea that vitamin D might be responsible for this relationship. Providing super-physiologic doses of the hormonal form of vitamin D, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, suppresses an animal model of multiple sclerosis, i.e. experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) but causes unwanted hypercalcemia. Further, dietary calcium is needed for this activity of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. B10PL mice were maintained on a vitamin D-deficient diet for two generations to produce frank vitamin D deficiency. These animals showed delayed onset and reduced severity of EAE compared to control animals on the same diet and given vitamin D3 or provided a vitamin D-containing chow diet. Thus, vitamin D deficiency interferes with the development of this autoimmune disease rather than increasing susceptibility.