S37.

001 - Dietary Intake of Sodium and Other Itinerary

Minerals and the Risk of Multiple Sclerosis

April 20, 2016, 6:30 - 6:45 AM

Authors
Marianna Cortese,1Tanuja Chitnis,2Alberto Ascherio,3Kassandra Munger3
1Bergen, Norway, 2Brookline, MA, USA, 3Boston, MA, USA

Disclosures
M. Cortese: None. T. Chitnis: ; Novartis (consulting), Novartis, Merck-Serono, Biogen. A. Ascherio: ; Bayer
HealthCare (medical advisory board). K. Munger: None.
Abstract
Background: Higher dietary sodium intake has been associated with more severe disease activity both in experimental
autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the role of sodium and
other minerals as risk factors of MS is unclear.
Objective: To investigate the association between dietary intake of sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium,
phosphorus, iron and the risk of MS.
Methods: We prospectively assessed the intake of the different minerals from diet and supplements by a validated
food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) administered every four years to 81 757 nurses in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS)
(1984-2004), and to 95 452 in the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII) (1991-2009). In both cohorts combined we confirmed
479 new MS cases during follow-up. The risk of developing MS was analysed using Cox proportional hazard models
and reported as hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The analyses were adjusted for age, latitude of
residence at age 15, ethnic background, body mass index at age 18, supplemental vitamin D intake, cigarette smoking
and total energy intake. Subsequently, the results in both cohorts were pooled using fixed effects models.
Results: Higher dietary intake of sodium at baseline was not associated with MS risk (highest [median 2.2 g/d NHS; 2.6
g/d NHSII] vs. lowest [median 1.4 g/d NHS; 1.7 g/d NHSII] quintile: HRpooled=0.95, 95% CI: 0.72-1.27, p for trend=0.84).
Nor was the intake of potassium (p trend=0.38), magnesium (0.12), calcium (0.21), phosphorus (0.99) and iron (0.81)
associated with the risk of developing the disease. The analyses of the cumulative intake of these minerals (i.e. average
intake from all FFQs up to the time of MS onset) yielded similar results.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that neither higher dietary sodium intake nor intake of the other investigated
minerals is related to the risk of developing MS.