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. 2024 Sep 29;25(19):10502.
doi: 10.3390/ijms251910502.

Serum Vitamin D3 as a Potential Biomarker for Neuronal Damage in Smoldering Multiple Sclerosis

Natalia Niedziela  1 , Maria Nowak-Kiczmer  1 , Lina Malciene  2 , Mariusz Stasiołek  3 , Jacek T Niedziela  4 , Zenon P Czuba  5 , Martyna Lis  1 , Agata Sowa  1 , Monika Adamczyk-Sowa  1
Affiliations

Serum Vitamin D3 as a Potential Biomarker for Neuronal Damage in Smoldering Multiple Sclerosis

Natalia Niedziela et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Permanent inflammatory demyelinating and neurodegenerative processes lead to neurological disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The anti-inflammatory properties of vitamin D3 (VitD) are well established, but its role in neurodegeneration is still uncertain. The usefulness of the serum concentration of VitD as a potential biomarker in evaluating brain injury in terms of recently known smoldering MS was under consideration. Methods: We assessed the concentrations of the parameters of brain injury (NF-H, GPAF, S100B, UCHL1) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of relapsing-remitting (RRMS, n = 123) and progressive MS (PMS, n = 88) patients in the group with normal levels of VitD (VitDn) and in the VitD deficiency group (VitDd). The levels of NF-H and UCHL1 were higher in the group of VitDd compared to VitDn. The higher serum levels of VitD were correlated with lower concentrations of GFAP, NF-H and S100B in the CSF of the whole group of MS patients and in women with MS as opposed to the levels of UCHL1. In men, there were noted negative correlations between the levels of serum VitD and GFAP and NF-H in CSF but not between VitD and S100B and UCHL1. The negative correlations were observed between VitD and the selected parameters of brain injury in MS patients, in women as well as in men. The concentrations of serum VitD together with selected parameters of brain injury in CSF seem to be promising biomarkers of neurodegeneration processes in smoldering MS.

Keywords: GPAF; NF-H; S100B; UCHL1; neurodegeneration; neuroinflammation; smoldering multiple sclerosis; vitamin D3.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Correlations between the serum VitD and GFAP concentrations in the whole study MS group (A) and subgroups of women (B) and men (C).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlations between the serum VitD and NF-H concentrations in the whole study MS group (A) and subgroups of women (B) and men (C).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlations between the serum VitD and UCHL1 concentrations in the whole study MS group (A) and subgroups of women (B) and men (C).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Correlations between the serum VitD and S100B concentrations in the whole study MS group (A) and subgroups of women (B) and men (C).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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