Latitude, Vitamin D, Melatonin, and Gut Microbiota Act in Concert to Initiate Multiple Sclerosis: A New Mechanistic Pathway.
Front Immunol. 2018 Oct 30;9:2484. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02484. eCollection 2018.
UV helped EAE mice (MS) designed to not respond to Vitamin D – Oct 2019
Melatonin occurs 387 times in Vitamin D Life as of Oct 2019
Melatonin interacts with Vitamin D in Multiple Sclerosis patients
Referenced by 3 studies as of Oct 2019
- The contribution of gut barrier changes to multiple sclerosis pathophysiology
- Effects of light on aging and longevity
- Understanding the role of regulatory T cells in pregnancy mediated
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Ghareghani M1,2, Reiter RJ3, Zibara K4, Farhadi N5.
1 CERVO Brain Research Center, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
2 Medicinal Plants Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Yasuj, Iran.
3 Dept of Cell Systems and Anatomy, The U. of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, United States.
4 PRASE, Biology Department, Faculty of Sciences-I, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
5 Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Yasuj, Iran.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). While the etiology of MS is still largely unknown, scientists believe that the interaction of several endogenous and exogenous factors may be involved in this disease. Epidemiologists have seen an increased prevalence of MS in countries at high latitudes, where the sunlight is limited and where the populations have vitamin D deficiency and high melatonin levels. Although the functions and synthesis of vitamin D and melatonin are contrary to each other, both are involved in the immune system.
While melatonin synthesis is affected by light, vitamin D deficiency may be involved in melatonin secretion. On the other hand, vitamin D deficiency reduces intestinal calcium absorption leading to gut stasis and subsequently increasing gut permeability. The latter allows gut microbiota to transfer more endotoxins such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS) into the blood. LPS stimulates the production of inflammatory cytokines within the CNS, especially the pineal gland. This review summarizes the current findings on the correlation between latitude, sunlight and vitamin D, and details their effects on intestinal calcium absorption, gut microbiota and neuroinflammatory mediators in MS. We also propose a new mechanistic pathway for the initiation of MS.