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• Vitamin D may suppress infections which lead to development of Multiple Sclerosis
  Steven R Brenner
  Published on: 13 April 2016

• Published on: 13 April 2016

  Vitamin D may suppress infections which lead to development of Multiple Sclerosis

  • Steven R Brenner, Neurologist
  • Other Contributors:
    • None

  Dear Editor,

  I read the article with reference to the inverse relationship between multiple sclerosis clinical activity and deficiency of vitamin D by Soilu-Hannienen (1) with interest, and was considering what mechanism could be in play to cause such a relationship.

  25-hydroxylated metabolites of vitamin D act as intracellular regulators of the synthesis and action of defensin (2) molecules against b...

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  Dear Editor,

  I read the article with reference to the inverse relationship between multiple sclerosis clinical activity and deficiency of vitamin D by Soilu-Hannienen (1) with interest, and was considering what mechanism could be in play to cause such a relationship.

  25-hydroxylated metabolites of vitamin D act as intracellular regulators of the synthesis and action of defensin (2) molecules against bacterial antigens, defensin being an endogenously synthesized antimicrobial substance (2).

  Human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide gene is a target of vitamin D receptor and is strongly up-regulated by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, indicating vitamin D receptor and the 1,25-dihydroxyvitaminD3 regulate primate innate immunity (3)

  Sunlight promotes vitamin D production from the skin and subsequent production of antimicrobial peptides such as defensin and cathelicidin.

  There has been noted to be a inverse correlation between sunlight exposure and development of multiple sclerosis prevalence (4).

  Although multiple sclerosis is widely believed to be an autoimmune mediated disease, there is still a rationale multiple sclerosis is related o a viral infection, with much of the tissue damage due to poorly controlled immune responses from a chronic infection(5).

  Sunlight induced production of vitamin D from the skin may in turn induce production of antimicrobial molecules such as defensin and cathelicidin, boosting innate immunity and suppressing underlying infections which, if allowed to proliferate, could result in development of multiple sclerosis.

  References:

  1. Soilu-Hannienen M. Laaksonen M, Laitinen I, et al. A longitudinal study of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and intact PTH levels indicate the importance of vitamin D and calcium homeostasis regulation in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2007 Jun 19 Epub.

  2. Adams JS< Liu P, Chun R, Modlin Rl, Hewison M, Vitamin D in defense of the

  Human Immune Response. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2007 Jul 26 Epub

  3.Gombart A, Borregaard N, Koeffler HP. Human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide

  (CAMP) gene is a direct target of the vitamin D receptor and is strongly up-regulated in myeloid cells by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. FASEB Journa. 2005; 19:1067- 1077.

  4. Ascherio A, Munger KL. Environmental risk factors for multiple sclerosis, Part II:

  Noninfectious factors. Annals of Neurology 2007; 61: 504-513.

  5. Lipton HL, Liang Z, Hertzler S, Son K, A specific viral cause of multiple sclerosis: one virus, one disease. Annals of Neurology 2007; 61: 514-523.

  No competing interests

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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