A connection between sun exposure, vitamin D and prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis has been apparent for years, but now researchers seem to have identified the mechanism by which vitamin D combats MS.

A study from Johns Hopkins Medicine “found that vitamin D blocks damaging immune cells from getting to the central nervous system, possibly explaining how vitamin D might be beneficial in multiple sclerosis,” the Vitamin D Council reports. Rodents with an animal form of MS that were given high doses of vitamin D still had high amounts of T-cells in their blood, but those cells were not accessing the central nervous system in the same manner that they typically do with MS. Those with MS have T-cells that negatively affect the central nervous system.

“With this research, we learned vitamin D might be working not by altering the function of damaging immune cells but by preventing their journey into the brain,” study leader Dr. Anne Gocke said in a press release from Johns Hopkins. “If we are right, and we can exploit Mother Nature’s natural protective mechanism, an approach like this could be as effective as and safer than existing drugs that treat MS.”

Click here for more coverage from the Vitamin D Council.

Click here to read the press release from Johns Hopkins Medicine.

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