New Study- Cause of MS is from environment, metabolism and genes interacting with Vitamin D

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Multiple sclerosis springs from environment, metabolism and genes

interacting with Vitamin D, suggests a genetic pathway study.

<http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/science-fair/2011/05/31/milkx-la\

rge.jpg>

Schoolgirl drinking Vitamin D3 enhanced milk.

CAPTION

NLM

In the *Nature Communications*

study<http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v2/n5/full/ncomms1333.html>headed

by neurologist

Demetriou <http://www.immunology.uci.edu/faculty.php?fid=937> of the

University of California, Irvine, researchers tackle the mystery of multiple

sclerosis. Multiple

sclerosis<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001747/>is a

neurological disorder that most often strikes women between the ages

of

20 to 40, triggering dizziness, numbness, problems with concentration and a

host of related problems.

" It is a complicated disease, and it seems to have a complicated

explanation, " Demetriou says. Genes explain only about 30% of the disease in

twins, meaning something besides them must play a role in acquiring the

disorder. Meanwhile, an individual's north-or-south distance from the

equator increases the odds of developing multiple sclerosis, suggesting

sunlight (which triggers Vitamin D production in the skin) may offer

protection against it.

So, the researchers looked at the role of genes implicated in the disease to

tease out how they work with such environmental factors.

Looking at human cells, they find that a deficiency of Vitamin D3 (found in

milk), variations in gene networks and individual cell tendencies to produce

sugars related to glucosamine, combine to affect the type of immune cells

produced by the body. Immune cells attack the nerves in multiple sclerosis

and it appears that a combination of all these factors disrupts these

cellular sugars, producing the wrong kind of immune cells, which may lead to

the disease.

The study serves as a model for other complicated diseases, the study

authors suggest. The production of cell sugars, or glycobiology, takes place

independently of factors determined by genes, they note, which is why

genome-wide studies of multiple sclerosis may not have picked up on this

facet of the disease.

" MS patients should not be deficient in Vitamin D, and they should talk to

their doctor about a safe level, because it needs to be tested, " Demetriou

says.

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