News
BBC, UPI - Rare gene links vitamin D and multiple sclerosis
Published: 8 December 2011
A rare genetic variant which causes reduced levels of vitamin D appears to be directly linked to multiple sclerosis, says an Oxford University study. UK and Canadian scientists identified the mutated gene in 35 parents of a child with MS and, in each case, the child inherited it. Researchers say this adds weight to suggestions of a link between vitamin D deficiency and MS. The study is in Annals of Neurology.
Oxford University researchers, along with Canadian colleagues at the University of Ottawa, University of British Columbia and Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, set out to look for rare genetic changes that could explain strong clustering of MS cases in some families in an existing Canadian study.
