Racial Variations in Mean Serum Vitamin A (Retinoic Acid) Levels in Multiple Sclerosis Patients with Normal/Corrected Vitamin D Levels (P3.012)

Objective: To Determine If There are Ethnic/Racial Variations in Vitamin A levels in Multiple Sclerosis(MS) patients with Normal Vitamin D levels Background: Vitamin A or retinoic acid is a lipid soluble vitamin like vitamin D.Although recent literature indicates an association of serum vitamin A levels with MS lesion load, disease severity and/or progression, it is unclear what role it plays independent of vitamin D. Some vitamin A receptors and vitamin D receptors are known to dimerize. But it is unknown whether serum vitamin D levels influence serum vitamin A levels. It is also unknown if there are racial variations in vitamin A levels in MS patients with normal vitamin D levels Methods: A retrospective analysis of data collected from our MS clinic patients was undertaken.Relapsing remitting MS patients with normal or corrected vitamin D levels were included in the study and serum vitamin A, retinol binding protein and carotene levels were collected in those patients with serum vitamin D levels that were normal (>30).MRI data was collected from scans done within about three months of the blood draws. Results: The average serum vitamin A levels for the caucasian, african american, and hispanic MS patients was 74.67, 53.38, and 55.36 respectively.Although no racial group had a mean level that was low, there were statistically significant differences in the mean vitamin A levels between the caucasian group and the african american groups (p=0.013) but not between the african american and hispanic groups.Review of differences in EDSS and MRI data (including lesion number) between these groups is discussed. Conclusions: There appears to be racial variations in vitamin A levels in MS patients with normal vitamin D levels. Additional research is needed to determine if vitamin A, independent of vitamin D,can influence the natural history of disease in MS patients. Disclosure: Dr. Mehta has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen, TEVA CNS, and Gerson Lehrman Group as a speaker and/or consultant. Dr. Berube has nothing to disclose.