How vitamin D affects the immune system of people with MS

A person’s risk of developing MS is determined by exposure to key environmental factors and the presence of genetic changes. The strongest environmental risk factor for MS is the latitudinal at which a person lives. In Australia for example, someone growing up in North Queensland is 7 times less likely to get MS than a person in Tasmania. It is thought that the lower exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and lower vitamin D levels at latitudes further from equator are driving the risk of developing MS.

Professor Butzkueven and his team are conducting one of the largest trials to establish if vitamin D supplements can be used to prevent MS in people that are at a high risk of developing the disease. The PrevANZ trial is focusing on using vitamin D supplementation to prevent a diagnosis of MS in people with symptoms that could be a first ever MS immune attack.  Although this very exciting study is important for establishing if high vitamin D can prevent the development of MS, this funding will extend this work to understand how vitamin D changes the immune system to prevent MS immune attacks.

The research team will compare the immune cells of participants in the PrevANZ trial, who will have taken vitamin D supplements or inactive tablets for 12 weeks. By comparing immune cells from the high dose vitamin D supplemented participants at baseline and 12 weeks and with those people who received inactive tablet, the researchers will be able to measure how vitamin D changes gene activity in immune cells. This will give us new clues about changes in immune cells that are important for preventing MS immune attacks.