Vitamin D and bone mineral density in Argentinian patients with multiple sclerosis: preliminar results of a pilot study.

PERALTA LÓPEZ ME; RIVOIRA M; ULLA MR; CASTRO MJ; VRECH C; MARTOS F

Congreso; ASBMR 2020 Annual Meeting Virtual Event; 2020

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune, demyelinating disease of the nervous system. Currently, relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) is the most common type of the disease. These patients are frequently exposed to high doses of corticosteroids, thus having risk for secondary osteoporosis, frequently aggravated by restriction of mobility due to physical deficit, which can predispose to fractures and cause further deterioration in the quality of life. Recent statistics from Argentina have shown an increasing prevalence of 32 patients in every 100,000 inhabitants. Since there is no similar study in local literature so far, we aimed at assessing bone health and vitamin D levels in these patients. Materials and methods: Observational, prospective, open case-control study evaluating serum levels of 25(OH)vitamin D as well as bone mineral density (BMD) in femoral neck, total hip and lumbar spine, in self-reliant patients with RRMS, compared to healthy controls. Thirty-six patients with RRMS (8 men and 28 women) between 20 and 59 years of age and 36 healthy patients of similar age and sex were included. All the women were pre-menopausal. The patients had an Expanded Disability Status Scale less than 5.0 and all had received a corticosteroid pulse the year prior to bone densitometry. A survey of physical activity and dairy consumption was carried out. Results: RRMS patients had inferior serum 25(OH)vitamin D levels than controls (21.1±7,8 ng/mL vs 40,2±18.8 ng/mL, respectively; p