Multiple Sclerosis prevention with high-dose vitamin D (in rats in this case) - July 2023

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Vitamin D—An Effective Antioxidant in an Animal Model of Progressive Multiple Sclerosis - July 2023

Nutrients 2023, 15(15), 3309; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15153309
by Michaela Tanja Haindl 1ORCID,Muammer Üçal 2ORCID,Willibald Wonisch 3ORCID,Michaela Lang 1,4,Marta Nowakowska 2ORCID,Milena Z. Adzemovic 5,Michael Khalil 1ORCID,Christian Enzinger 1 and Sonja Hochmeister 1,*
1 Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria
2 Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria
3 Otto Loewi Research Center, Department of Physiological Medicine, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria
4 Faculty of Health, University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Campus 1, 2700 Wiener Neustadt, Austria
5 Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 64 Stockholm, Sweden

Vitamin D (VD) is the most discussed antioxidant supplement for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and many studies suggest correlations between a low VD serum level and onset and progression of the disease. While many studies in animals as well as clinical studies focused on the role of VD in the relapsing-remitting MS, knowledge is rather sparse for the progressive phase of the disease and the development of cortical pathology. In this study, we used our established rat model of cortical inflammatory demyelination, resembling features seen in late progressive MS, to address the question about whether VD could have positive effects on reducing cortical pathology, oxidative stress, and neurofilament light chain (NfL) serum levels. For this purpose, we used male Dark Agouti (DA) rats, with one group being supplemented with VD (400 IE per week; VD+) from the weaning on at age three weeks; the other group received standard rodent food. The rat brains were assessed using immunohistochemical markers against demyelination, microglial activation, apoptosis, neurons, neurofilament, and reactive astrocytes. To evaluate the effect of VD on oxidative stress and the antioxidant capacity, we used two different oxidized lipid markers (anti- Cu++ and HOCl oxidized LDL antibodies) along with colorimetric methods for protective polyphenols (PP) and total antioxidative capacity (TAC). NfL serum levels of VD+ and VD− animals were analyzed by fourth generation single-molecule array (SIMOA) analysis. We found significant differences between the VD+ and VD− animals both in histopathology as well as in all serum markers. Myelin loss and microglial activation is lower in VD+ animals and the number of apoptotic cells is significantly reduced with a higher neuronal survival. VD+ animals show significantly lower NfL serum levels, a higher TAC, and more PP. Additionally, there is a significant reduction of oxidized lipid markers in animals under VD supplementation. Our data thus show a positive effect of VD on cellular features of cortical pathology in our animal model, presumably due to protection against reactive oxygen species. In this study, VD enhanced remyelination and prevented neuroaxonal and oxidative damage, such as demyelination and neurodegeneration. However, more studies on VD dose relations are required to establish an optimal response while avoiding overdosing.
 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

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Vitamin D in Multiple Sclerosis—Lessons From Animal Studies - Oct 2021

 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

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Vitamin D Life – Multiple Sclerosis 32 percent less likely among those with more than 32 ng of vitamin D – Dec 2019

• Overview MS and vitamin D
• An opportunity - use Vitamin D to treat Multiple Sclerosis (has been used for 14 years) - Feb 2022
• Multiple Sclerosis treated when use high doses of vitamin D – meta-analysis May 2018
• Multiple Sclerosis: 10 percent fewer relapses for each 10 ng higher level of vitamin D – Meta-analysis April 2020
• Multiple Sclerosis: number needed to treat with vitamin D may be as low as 1.3 – Meta-analysis Oct 2013
• Multiple Sclerosis more likely if poor vitamin D genes - 22nd study – Aug 2017
• Multiple Sclerosis relapses cut in half by 100,000 IU of Vitamin D every 2 weeks– RCT 2019

UV and Sunshine reduces MS risk

• Multiple Sclerosis 2X more likely if low winter UV – June 2018
• Multiple Sclerosis half as likely if get plenty of sunshine (not a news item) – March 2018

Other things also help

• Multiple Sclerosis treated by 50,000 IU Vitamin D bi-weekly plus Omega-3 – RCT July 2018
• Multiple Sclerosis 40 percent less likely if consume tinned fish (Vitamin D and Omega-3) – Sept 2019
• Resveratrol treats Multiple Sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases – many studies
• Not a single case of multiple sclerosis in 15,000,000 people (plant-based diets)

High Dose Vitamin D and cofactors

• Coimbra protocol using high-dose Vitamin D is safe – April 2022
• The use of high dose Vitamin D (Coimbra Protocol) for multiple sclerosis in Germany – 2019
• Comparing High-dose vitamin D therapies MS and other health problems

Number of MS studies which are also in other categories

• 22 studies in Genetics - genes can restrict Vitamin D getting to the blood and to the cells
• 12 studies in Vitamin D Receptor - gene which restricts D from getting to the cells
• 7 studies in Vitamin D Binding Protein - gene which restricts D from getting to the cells
• 21 studies in Ultraviolet light - may be even better than Vitamin D in preventing and treating MS
• 9 studies in Omega-3 - which helps Vitamin D prevent and treat MS

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Vitamin D Life – Overview MS and vitamin D contains

Clinical interventions have shown that Vitamin D can prevent, treat, and even cure Multiple Sclerosis, at a tiny fraction of the cost of the drugs now used to treat it, and without side effects.

• Fact: Low Vitamin D results in higher risk of getting MS
  Increase latitude leads to decreased Vitamin D, which leads to increased risk of MS
  
  
  There is less of an effect recently - air conditioning now allows people to stay indoors

  
  
  Dark skinned people are far more likely to get MS (dark skin people typically have low vitamin D)
  Elderly (who typically have low vitamin D) are more likely to get MS
  Is there increased risk in people who already have diseases associated with low vitamin D - TB, for example ? ? ?
  Women typically have 3X increased MS risk then men (note: women typically have 20% lower levels of vitamin D than men)
     Exception: women in very sunny climates and dark-skinned women have the same MS risk as men
  Obese are 60% more likely to get MS
  Multiple Sclerosis 42X more likely if light brown skin and smoke (both associated with low vitamin D) – July 2020
  MS recurrence is much higher in spring - the lowest time of the year for vitamin D
  increase in clouds/rainfall (which reduces available Vitamin D) is associated with increased risk of MS (Scotland, Western Washington)
  MS incidence has increased 70% in a decade while the incidence of vitamin D deficiency doubled
  Less MS in those with outdoor occupations PDF file, not a web page
• Fact: MS uses up Vitamin D
• Fact: Lower vitamin D (due to MS using up Vitamin D while fighting the disease) results in many other health problems (such as broken bones), so depleted vitamin D levels must be restored.
  
  Fact: Increasing levels of Vitamin D is associated with lower MS risk, as well as lower risk of many other diseases

  
• Fact: Vitamin D looks so promising for preventing and treating MS that there were 25 INTERVENTION clinical trials as of Feb 2014
• Fact: Vitamin D reduced the MS relapse rate far better than Fingolimod which is now used for that purpose.
  • Note: Fingolimod costs $25,000/year while vitamin D, which works better and has no side effects is 1000 times less expensive.
• Fact: 98% of the genes affected by Interferon are also affected by Vitamin D
  • Note: 1 week of Interferon = $4,700, 1 week of vitamin D 10,000X lower cost
• Fact: MS Doctors in Brazil recommending 40-100 ng/mL of Vitamin D
• Fact: Many MS forums are recommending vitamin D to treat MS, with some taking 5,000 to 10,000 IU daily
  Observation: Risk of going from pre-MS to MS reduced 68 percent with 7100 IU vitamin D – RCT Dec 2012
  • This is an observation instead of a fact - it has not yet been confirmed.
• Fact: VERY LARGE doses of vitamin D have CURED 2,000 people of MS in Brazil
• Controversy: UVB fron sunlight or UVB bulb may be BETTER than Vitamin D for reducing the risk of getting MS
• Hypothesis: In addition to Vitamin D there are many other photoproducts produced by UVB that may promote health.

Summary: lack of consensus on how much to prevent, treat, or cure MS.

• How much Vitamin D to prevent many diseases - such as MS
• How much Vitamin D is needed to treat MS? There is currently no agreement
     The recommendations range from 40 to 100 ng - which can result of a dose ranging from 3,000 to 20,000 IU/day
• How Vitamin D is needed to Cure MS?: It appears that 20,000-140,000 IU daily may be needed to CURE the disease
     You must be under the supervision of a doctor who knows what to watch for in your individual situation.
     High doses of Vitamin D cannot be used as a monotherapy.
     You will need to adjust the cofactors: Typically increasing Magnesium and Vitamin K2, and reducing Calcium intake.
     Your doctor will monitor these and might increase your intake of Vitamins B2, C, as well as Omega-3899
• Epstein-Barr virus increases risk of Multiple Sclerosis by 32X - Jan 2022
• Multiple Sclerosis treated by Vitamin D, recommends investigating high dose Coimbra - Oct 2021
• Multiple Sclerosis patients had fewer COVID-19 problems (Note: many MSers take Vitamin D) – April 30, 2021
• Vitamin D Resistance hypothesis confirmed by Coimbra high-dose vitamin D protocol – April 2021
• Multiple Sclerosis relapses cut in half by 100,000 IU of Vitamin D every 2 weeks– RCT 2019