Prenatal Vitamin D Deficiency Induces an Early and More Severe Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in the Second Generation
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13(9), 10911-10919; doi:10.3390/ijms130910911
Diana Andrea Fernandes de Abreu 1 , Véréna Landel 1 , Adrian G. Barnett 2 , John McGrath 3,4 , Darryl Eyles 3,4 and Francois Feron 1,*
1 Neurobiology of Cell Interactions and Neurophysiopathology, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 7259, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille 13015, France
2 School of Public Health and Social Work & Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, 60 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, Qld 4059, Australia
3 Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia
4 Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, The Park Centre for Mental Health, Richlands, Qld 4077, Australia
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. francois.feron at univ-amu.fr
Received: 17 July 2012; in revised form: 18 August 2012 / Accepted: 22 August 2012 / Published: 30 August 2012
Abstract: In a previous study, we demonstrated that mouse adult F1 offspring, exposed to a vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, developed a less severe and delayed Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE), when compared with control offspring. We then wondered whether a similar response was observed in the subsequent generation. To answer this question, we assessed F2 females whose F1 parents (males or females) were vitamin D-deprived when developing in the uterus of F0 females. Unexpectedly, we observed that the vitamin D deficiency affecting the F0 pregnant mice induced a precocious and more severe EAE in the F2 generation. This paradoxical finding led us to assess its implications for the epidemiology of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in humans. Using the REFGENSEP database for MS trios (the patient and his/her parents), we collected the parents’ dates of birth and assessed a potential season of birth effect that could potentially be indicative of the vitamin D status of the pregnant grandmothers. A trend for a reduced number of births in the Fall for the parents of MS patients was observed but statistical significance was not reached. Further well powered studies are warranted to validate the latter finding.
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See also VitaminDWiki
- Higher weight and blood pressure in second generation from mother mouse who had low vitamin D – 2012
- Hypothesis: Low maternal vitamin D increases probability of heart disease later in adult – May 2013 just 1 generation, not 2
- Multiple Sclerosis 2X more likely if vitamin D deficient as a fetus decades earlier – May 2016
- Epigenetics, vitamin D, and Multiple Sclerosis