No Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Previous trials describe a decrease of vitamin D levels in patients with Parkinson’s disease and relationships to clinical disease severity. This case control study found higher but not significant 25-OH-vitamin D plasma levels in patients with Parkinson’s disease compared with age- and sex-matched controls and no associations to clinical parameters, such as rating scores of disease severity or assessments of cognitive function. A certain variability of vitamin D concentrations was observed in both cohorts, which were investigated during the same season. These outcomes put into perspective the emerging discussion on the importance of vitamin D in Parkinson’s disease. Our results warrant further confirmatory research with a strict matching design of patients and controls, which has not been done in previous investigations. We stress that this case control study does not allow any comment on the putative beneficial effects of vitamin D supplementation, ie, on bone mass or bone mineral density, in patients with Parkinson’s disease.