Highlights
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Vitamin D status is a risk factor for multiple sclerosis development and inflammatory activity.
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Presently, there is no evidence that vitamin D is neuroprotective and can limit disability.
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The anterior visual pathway is a feasible model to study the neuroprotective impact of vitamin D.
Abstract
In recent years, theories about the anti-inflammatory properties of vitamin D in demyelinating
disease have been well substantiated by human studies examining relapse reduction,
MRI lesion activity and risk of MS conversion. However, the evidence that vitamin
D may protect against neurodegeneration has not been established as of yet, and comes
with the challenges of a manageable target over a manageable time period. Such challenges
might be overcome by the anterior visual pathway (AVP) model of the central nervous
system, which allows the non-invasive study (e.g. imaging, electrophysiology and clinical)
of form and function within a much shorter time frame than pure clinical activity.
This review outlines the state of current knowledge about vitamin D in demyelinating
disease, and highlights the potential utility of using the AVP to study its neuroprotective
effects.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 18, 2013
Accepted:
June 23,
2013
Received in revised form:
June 4,
2013
Received:
April 7,
2013
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
