Low Serum Vitamin D Levels and Recurrent Inflammatory Spinal Cord Disease
Maureen A. Mealy, RN, BSN; Scott Newsome, DO; Benjamin M. Greenberg, MD, MHS; Dean Wingerchuk, MD, MSc; Peter Calabresi, MD; Michael Levy, MD, PhD
Arch Neurol. 2012;69(3):352-356. doi:10.1001/archneurol.2011.1974
Background Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels have been associated with a higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis and increased relapse rates in patients with multiple sclerosis. As a sterol hormone involved in multiple immunologic pathways, vitamin D may play a role in preventing monophasic immune-mediated central nervous system attacks from developing into recurrent disease.
Objective To investigate the association between low serum vitamin D levels and recurrent spinal cord disease.
Design, Setting, and Patients We performed a retrospective analysis at Johns Hopkins Transverse Myelitis Center, Baltimore, Maryland, evaluating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in 77 patients with monophasic and recurrent inflammatory diseases of the spinal cord.
Main Outcome Measure Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D.
Results Vitamin D levels are significantly lower in patients who developed recurrent spinal cord disease, adjusting for season, age, sex, and race.
Conclusions This study provides a basis for a prospective trial of measuring 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in these patient populations and assessing the influence of vitamin D supplementation on the frequency of relapses in those with recurrent inflammatory spinal cord disease.
Author Affiliations: Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland (Ms Mealy and Drs Newsome, Calabresi, and Levy); Department of Neurology, University of Texas Southwe