Open AccessInfluence of physical activity on serum vitamin D levels in people with multiple sclerosis
Author(s) -
Angelika Bauer,
Ivan Lechner,
Michael Auer,
Thomas Berger,
Gabriel Bsteh,
Franziska Di Pauli,
Harald Hegen,
Sebastian Wurth,
Anne Zinganell,
Florian Deisenhammer
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0234333
Subject(s) - sunlight , vitamin d and neurology , multiple sclerosis , expanded disability status scale , physical activity , medicine , vitamin , correlation , physiology , physical activity level , physical therapy , endocrinology , immunology , mathematics , physics , geometry , astronomy
In most cases, multiple sclerosis (MS) patients reduce physical activity with disease progression and many patients are found to be vitamin D deficient. The aim of this study was to explore correlations between daily physical activity in everyday life and 25-hydroxyvitamin-D 3 (25(OH)D 3 ) serum levels in mildly disabled patients with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) ≤ 4. We analyzed serum 25(OH)D 3 levels and recorded daily physical activity (activity duration, number of steps, distance, energy expenditure) using an activity tracker for 14-days in 25 women and 15 men. Participants recorded their daily sunlight exposure time by diary during the study period. We found a positive correlation between physical activity and 25(OH)D 3 levels in both, Pearson correlation (r = 0.221) and multivariate regression analysis (β = 0.236), which was stronger than correlation with sunlight exposure time (β = -0.081). EDSS and physical activity were weakly correlated (r = -0.228), but no correlation between EDSS and 25(OH)D 3 levels was found (r = -0.077). There were no relevant differences in physical activity (p = 0.803) and 25(OH)D 3 concentrations (p = 0.385) between the EDSS groups 0 – 1.5 and 2.0 – 4.0. In conclusion, physical activity has an effect on vitamin D levels independent of sunlight exposure time in people with MS (pwMS) with low-grade disability.