Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
Volume 19, Issue 7, Pages 955-962Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2011.03650.x
Keywords
25-hydroxyvitamin D; case-control studies; multiple sclerosis; sunlight
Categories
Funding
- Biogen Idec
- Sanofi-aventis
- Bayer-Schering Pharma and Diasorin AB
- AFA Foundation
- Soderbergs Foundation
- Swedish Association for Persons with Neurological Disabilities
- Swedish Research Council
- Swedish Council for Working life and Social Research
- Bayer-Schering
- Merck-Serono
- Teva
- Bayer
- Merck
- EU
- Neuropromise
- Euratools
- Bibbi and Niels Jensens foundation
- Swedish Medical Research Council
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background: Both insufficient exposure to sunlight and vitamin D deficiency have been associated with an increased risk for multiple sclerosis (MS). An interaction between human leukocyte antigen HLA-DRB1*15 and vitamin D in MS was recently proposed. We investigated the association between previous exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR), vitamin D status at inclusion in the study, and MS risk including the interaction of these factors with HLA-DRB1*15. Methods: A population-based casecontrol study involving 1013 incident cases of MS and 1194 controls was performed in Sweden during 20052010. Subjects were classified according to their UVR exposure habits, vitamin D status, and HLA genotypes. The associations between different sun exposure habits/vitamin D levels and MS were calculated as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using logistic regression. Potential interaction was evaluated by calculating the attributable proportion due to interaction. Results: Subjects with low UVR exposure had a significantly increased risk of MS compared with those who reported the highest exposure (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.53.3). Similarly, subjects who had 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels less than 50 nM/l had an increased risk for MS (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.21.7). The association between UVR exposure and MS risk persisted after adjustment for vitamin D status. There was no interaction with HLA-DRB1*15 carriage. Conclusions: UVR and vitamin D seem to affect MS risk in adults independently of HLA-DRB1*15 status. UVR exposure may also exert a protective effect against developing MS via other pathways than those involving vitamin D.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available