Objective: To investigate whether there is a sex-specific causal relationship between plasma vitamin D levels and the risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Background: Prior studies on the relationship between PD and vitamin D have yielded inconsistent results. While previous Mendelian randomization (MR) studies reported null findings, these sex-agnostic analyses may mask any sex-specific relationship.

Method: We conducted an MR study using sex-stratified GWAS summary statistics from the UK Biobank to examine the association between genetically estimated serum vitamin D levels and PD risk separately in men and women.

Results: We observed a male-specific negative association between genetically estimated vitamin D and liability towards PD for both raw values (beta=-0.14 ± 0.07, p=0.04) and quantile values (beta=-0.01±0.00, p=4.4e-3)

Conclusion: Our results indicate a negative association between genetically estimated vitamin D levels and PD risk in men. Specifically, we observed a male-specific negative association (beta=-0.01±0.00 per , p=4.4e-3).

References: Our study suggests that vitamin D may play a protective role in PD risk in men.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/sex-specific-association-between-plasma-vitamin-d-and-parkinsons-disease-a-mendelian-randomization-study/