Epidemiology of multiple sclerosis and vitamin D levels in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

Silvia Pérez-Pérez; Pablo Eguia Del Rio; María Inmaculada Domínguez-Mozo; María Ángel García-Martínez; María Francisca Zapata-Ramos; Maria Jose Torrejon; Rafael Arroyo; Roberto Alvarez-Lafuente

doi:10.7717/peerj.8235

Epidemiology of multiple sclerosis and vitamin D levels in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

PeerJ. 2019 Dec 18:7:e8235. doi: 10.7717/peerj.8235. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Silvia Pérez-Pérez¹, Pablo Eguia Del Rio², María Inmaculada Domínguez-Mozo¹, María Ángel García-Martínez¹, María Francisca Zapata-Ramos³, Maria Jose Torrejon⁴, Rafael Arroyo⁵, Roberto Alvarez-Lafuente¹

Affiliations

¹ Grupo de Investigación de Factores Ambientales en Enfermedades Degenerativas, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
² Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Doctor José Molina Orosa, Lanzarote, Spain.
³ Servicio de Análisis Clínicos, Hospital Doctor José Molina Orosa, Lanzarote, Spain.
⁴ Servicio de Análisis Clínicos, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
⁵ Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Universitario Quirónsalud Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

Background: Low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) have been described as one of the possible environmental factors involved in multiple sclerosis (MS) etiopathogenesis.

Objectives: To study epidemiology of MS and 25(OH)D serum levels of patients in Lanzarote (29°02'06″N), a region with high ultraviolet radiation values during the whole year which is located far apart from Iberian Peninsula (36°-43°N), but without genetic/ethnic differences with it.

Methods: Incidence in Lanzarote was assessed according to McDonald 2005 criteria between January 2008 and December 2015 and prevalence date was 12/31/15. For 25(OH)D serum levels analyses, samples from 60 MS patients and 60 healthy donors (HD) were collected monthly in a one-year prospective study.

Results: The prevalence of MS in Lanzarote was 50.0/100,000 and the incidence per year was 2.5/100,000. Median 25(OH)D levels values were 29.1 ng/ml for MS patients (maximum = 36.1 ng/ml, minimum = 22.5 ng/ml) and 27.1 ng/ml for HD (maximum = 34.8 ng/ml, minimum = 22.8 ng/ml). There were no significant differences between 25(OH)D serum levels between MS patients and HD.

Conclusions: Lanzarote possesses lower prevalence and incidence values than peninsular Spain. Moreover, 25(OH)D serum levels do not differ between MS patients and HD.

Keywords: Incidence; Lanzarote; Multiple sclerosis; Prevalence; Spain; Vitamin D.

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by ISCIII-Feder (PI15/00821), “Fundación Mutua Madrileña”, “Fundación Ramón Areces”, and “Fundación LAIR” grants. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.