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Utility of Dissociated Intrinsic Hand Muscle Atrophy in the Diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Published on: March 4, 2014
Vitamin D levels are associated with gross motor function in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Sabrina Paganoni1,2,3, Eric A Macklin1,4, Chafic Karam5
1Neurological Clinical Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 165 Cambridge Street, Suite 600, Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, USA.
Introduction:
The objective of this study was to determine whether serum vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels are associated with disease progression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Methods:
25(OH)D was measured in subjects enrolled in a multicenter study for validation of ALS biomarkers. Baseline 25(OH)D levels were correlated with baseline ALSFRS-R scores. Average 25(OH)D levels from baseline and month 6 visits (seasonally asynchronous) were used to predict subsequent rate of change in ALSFRS-R from month 6 to month 18.
Results:
Most subjects had either insufficient or deficient 25(OH)D levels. Lower 25(OH)D was associated with lower ALSFRS-R gross motor scores, but not lower ALSFRS-R total scores at baseline. Levels of 25(OH)D were not predictive of disease progression over the next 12 months.
Conclusion:
25(OH)D was associated with baseline gross motor ALSFRS-R scores but did not predict the rate of disease progression. Vitamin D levels may reflect poor mobility in patients with ALS. Muscle Nerve, 2017 Muscle Nerve 56: 726-731, 2017.
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