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Vitamin D3 Supplementation Modulates Inflammatory Protein CHI3L1/YKL-40 and Oxidative Stress Status in Multiple Sclerosis.

  • 2025-11-23
  • Neuropsychopharmacology reports 45(4)
    • Sevda Asadpour
    • Mehrdokht Mazdeh
    • Jamshid Karimi
    • Iraj Khodadadi
    • Gholamreza Shafiee

Study Design

Type
Clinical Trial
Sample size
n = 35
Population
35 patients with MS (aged 30-56 years)
Methods
single-arm pre-post clinical trial, 8 weeks of vitamin D3 supplementation (50 000 IU/week)
Blinding
Open-label
Duration
8 weeks
Funding
Unclear

Objective

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by chronic neuroinflammation and oxidative stress. Vitamin D is believed to exert immunomodulatory and antioxidant effects, yet its impact on specific inflammatory proteins such as CHI3L1 (YKL-40) in MS remains unclear. This study evaluated whether 8-week vitamin D3 supplementation affects serum CHI3L1 levels, oxidative stress markers, and antioxidant enzyme activities in patients with MS.

Methods

In this single-arm pre-post clinical trial, 35 patients with MS (aged 30-56 years) received oral vitamin D3 supplementation (50 000 IU/week) for 8 weeks. Serum 25(OH)D and CHI3L1 levels were determined using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. oxidative stress markers were measured pre- and post-intervention using commercial colorimetric kits. Statistical analysis was performed using paired t-tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.

Results

Vitamin D3 supplementation significantly increased serum 25(OH)D levels (20.80 ± 8.6 to 39.11 ± 12.26 ng/mL; p < 0.001). CHI3L1 concentration decreased by 21.7% (33.28 ± 8.9 to 26.05 ± 9.1 ng/mL; p < 0.001). oxidative stress was reduced, evidenced by lower TOS (1.55 ± 0.50 to 0.59 ± 0.23 mmol H2O2 equiv./L; p < 0.001) and MDA (0.08 ± 0.03 to 0.05 ± 0.026 nmol/mL; p < 0.001). Antioxidant capacity improved, as demonstrated by elevated TAC (0.622 ± 0.138 to 0.797 ± 0.15 mmol Fe2+/L; p < 0.001) and increased activities of SOD (10.5%; p < 0.001), CAT (19.5%; p < 0.001), and GPx (35.6%; p < 0.05). Significant inverse correlations were observed between serum 25(OH)D and CHI3L1 (r = -0.999, p < 0.001), TOS (r = -0.456, p = 0.0058), and MDA (r = -0.577, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Vitamin D3 supplementation was associated with reductions in CHI3L1 and oxidative stress markers, while suggesting enhancement of antioxidant capacity. This observed biomarker changes support vitamin D3 as a potential adjunct therapy targeting interconnected pathological pathways in MS.

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