INVESTIGATIONS OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND MODIFIABLE FACTORS – A FOCUS ON VITAMIN D AND PREGNANCY

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Vitamin D deficiency is an established risk factor but the mechanisms by which it contributes to MS pathogenesis and pathophysiology are unclear. MS disproportionately affects women more than men. Family planning is an important management consideration. However, how modern MS treatments interact with disease activity during and after pregnancy is not well understood. This thesis investigates these factors of vitamin D and pregnancy in the context of MS by transcriptomic analyses of immune cells and through retrospective analysis of a large dataset from the MSBase Registry, respectively.