Low Vitamin D Serum Levels in a Cohort of Myasthenia Gravis Patients in Argentina

• Published in: Photochemistry and photobiology 2021-09, Vol.97 (5), p.1145-1149
• Main Authors: Justo, Mariano E., Aldecoa, Mayra, Cela, Eliana, Leoni, Juliana, González Maglio, Daniel H., Villa, Andrés M., Aguirre, Florencia, Paz, Mariela L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibodies; Autoimmune diseases; Biomarkers; Calciferol; Complement component C5a; Evaluation; Immunomodulation; Myasthenia gravis; Neuromuscular junctions; Patients; Serum levels; Statistical analysis; Vitamin D
• ISSN: 0031-8655; 1751-1097
• DOI: 10.1111/php.13432

There are limited and controversial studies that address the role of vitamin D (vitD), a vitamin with immunomodulatory effects, in myasthenia gravis (MG), a neuromuscular autoimmune disease. We aimed to assess 25‐hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and to evaluate possible associations with the clinical severity and other biomarkers of the disease. Serum levels of 25(OH)D, anti‐acetylcholine receptor antibodies and complement factor C5a were measured in MG patients (n = 66) and healthy volunteers (HV) (n = 25). Participants were evaluated through questionnaires to determine vitD intake and sunlight exposure. Severity scores were registered for MG patients. We found an 89.4% of MG individuals with nonsufficient levels of vitD, in comparison with 68.0% in the group of HV (OR = 3.96; P = 0.024). In addition, there was an inverse correlation between 25(OH)D levels and one of the scores (P = 0.037 r = −0.26, CI95 = −0.49 to −0.0087). However, when we compared 25(OH)D median serum levels between MG patients and HV, no statistically significant differences have been found. This is the first report of vitD status in a cohort of Argentinean MG patients, where we found that patients are more likely to have nonsufficient levels of vitD compared to healthy people and that patients with more severe disease have lower levels of vitD. Several reports have proven the immunomodulatory effects of vitamin D (vitD), as well as that vitD may have a role in the pathogenesis of different autoimmune diseases. Indeed, vitD deficiency has been shown to correlate with autoimmune activity in many of them; however, there is conflicting data on vitD status in myasthenia gravis patients (MG). We studied vitD levels in an MG patients’ cohort and found that patients are more likely to have nonsufficient levels of vitD (