In addition to modulating immune responses, some preclinical studies suggest vitamin D may play a direct role in myelin repair by increasing the production of oligodendrocytes — the cells chiefly responsible for making new myelin in the brain and spinal cord.
B Vitamins and Methylation
A number of different B vitamins can increase myelin and help your body regenerate myelin. Vitamin B12 plays a key role in the generation and function of myelin. Researchers have found that low vitamin B12 levels are significantly associated with myelin degeneration (66, 68).
It has been shown in vivo studies that vitamin D improves axonogenesis and sensory neural response in peripheral nerve and improves electrophysiological recovery.
The human body has an amazing natural ability to repair myelin and get nerves working properly again. Myelin is repaired or replaced by special cells in the brain called oligodendrocytes. These cells are made from a type of stem cell found in the brain, called oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs).
In neurapraxic lesions, Schwann cells must de-differentiate to a stage where cell division is possible to proliferate and make new myelin, and this stage may take three months.
You need vitamin B12 to help maintain your nerves' myelin sheath. If you are deficient in vitamin B12 you can get symptoms that are similar to some of the symptoms of MS, such as fatigue, weakness, numbness or tingling and problems with memory.
Vitamin B12 protects against myelin damage after TBI through ER Stress. (A) Representative images of white matter with LFB staining images of the myelin sheath at 14 days.
They found that a one-time injection of 300,000 IU vitamin D led to significant improvements in neuropathic pain (DN4 questionnaire), balance (the Berg balance test), and perception of electric shock and burning sensations 12 weeks after administration compared to the placebo group.
This is because during the fast, the disease-causing immune cells are essentially stopped and killed off. When normal feeding is resumed, normal immune cells and the myelin-producing oligodendrocytes are regenerated.
A protein called Mfsd2a, which transports molecules that contain omega-3 fatty acids, is essential for regulating cells that make the fatty coating on nerve fibers, or myelin sheath, that's damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), a study indicates.
At high doses, methylcobalamin, the active form of vitamin B12, accelerated nerve regeneration, increased myelination, and improved motor and functional recovery of injured nerves [80, 83].
Vitamin D insufficiency during childhood has been linked to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), typically an adult-onset inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS).
Can vitamin D deficiency mimic MS? Vitamin D deficiency and MS both have a wide range of symptoms, some of which overlap between the two conditions. Having a deficiency in vitamin D can cause joint and bone pain, bone loss, weakening of the bones, and numbness.
The myelin sheath is mostly made of fat, but certain fats work better as building materials. Healthy fats can help grease the gears. Unsaturated fats found in foods like nuts, seeds, salmon, tuna, avocado, and vegetable oils help nerve cells communicate more quickly.
High doses of other vitamins can antagonize your immune-modulating, immunosuppressive therapies used to manage MS. Supplements that stimulate the immune system should be avoided in high doses. Those include selenium, zinc, B1, B2, folic acid, B6, vitamin A, biotin, magnesium, copper, and manganese.
Current dogma suggests that chronically demyelinated axons are at risk for degeneration, with axonal loss resulting in permanent disability in myelin disease. However, the trophic role of the myelin sheath in long-term axonal survival is incompletely understood.
Treatment. There is no cure for demyelinating diseases, but disease-modifying therapies can alter the disease progression in some patients. Disease-modifying therapies can be used together with symptomatic treatment. The symptoms and progression of demyelinating diseases varies between patients.
They found that vitamin C facilitates the formation of myelin sheaths in a co-culture of OPCs and neurons. Furthermore, vitamin C promoted the repair of myelin sheaths in vivo, as well as provided significant therapeutic effect in an animal model of multiple sclerosis.
Answer and Explanation: Collagen does indirectly help direct growth of the myelin sheath, particularly in the peripheral nervous system. Collagen is a protein of the extracellular matrix, the substance that surrounds cells in our body.