TORONTO, January 3, 2012 – Vitamin D deficiency briefly delays the onset of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease but later increases the severity of the neuromuscular disease and decreases quality of life, according to a York University study.

The study, which appears in the international, peer-reviewed journal PLoS One, is the first to examine the link between vitamin D and Lou Gehrig’s Disease in a living organism – in this case mice. It found that when vitamin D deficiency was induced in the mice, something happened in their cells that allowed the mice to function better briefly, but only until onset of the disease, when symptoms rapidly worsened. The vitamin D deficiency had no impact on lifespan.

“ALS is the most common motor neuron disease, usually with only two to five years between diagnosis and death, and there is no cure for it,” says lead author Jesse Solomon, a graduate student at York.  “We’re trying to see whether by changing diet, we can influence not only when the disease starts, but how fast it progresses, and whether we can affect lifespan.”

Solomon is first author of the PLoS One study, supervised by Kinesiology Professor Mazen Hamadeh, in the Muscle Health Research Centre in York University’s Faculty of Health. York graduate student Alexandro Gianforcaro is co-author.

The results should not be interpreted as evidence that low vitamin D levels would benefit ALS patients, Hamadeh cautioned.

“Our mouse model study showed that while there may be an initial delay in the onset of symptoms, the body quickly figures out that it is vitamin D deficient, and starts to hold onto and reduce breakdown of the vitamin. This leads to a steep increase in symptoms after the onset of ALS, as the body’s metabolism adjusts,” he says.

Further research is needed before translating the mouse model results to humans, according to Hamadeh. He and his students are now studying the molecular changes that occur in muscle, spinal cord and brain when vitamin D is manipulated in the diet of mice with genetic predisposition to ALS and why these effects are more pronounced in males than females. They are also investigating the impact on ALS of using higher-than-normal doses of vitamin D.

York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto – Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 55,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 240,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.

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Media Contact:

Janice Walls, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22101, wallsj@yorku.ca