The use of vitamin D3 or omega-three fatty acid dietary supplements over a 5-year length may also lessen the incident autoimmune disease in older adults by 25% to 30%, according to facts presented at ACR Convergence 2021,

“In past ecologic observations, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and type 2 diabetes have been shown to be more prevalent at northern latitudes, where circulating vitamin D levels are lower,” Karen Costenbader, MD, MPH, director of the Lupus Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told attendees at the virtual meeting. “Both high plasma 25-OH vitamin D and high residential UV exposure were associated with a decreased risk for rheumatoid arthritis among women in the Nurses’ Health Study in our past work.” “The clinical importance of these results is very high given that these are well-tolerated, non-toxic supplements, that there are no other known effective therapies to reduce incident of autoimmune disease,” Karen Costenbader, MD, MPH, told attendees. “In past observational studies, lower RA risk has been observed in those with increased fatty fish intake,” she added. “In another study, higher [omega-3 (n-3)] fatty acid-to-total lipid proportion in [red blood cell] membranes was associated with a lower prevalence anti-CCP and rheumatoid factor antibodies, and lower progression to inflammatory arthritis among healthy volunteers.”

However, to date, no prospective randomized trials have examined the consequences of vitamin D or omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on the incident of autoimmune disease over time, Costenbader noted. To observe each for the prevention of autoimmune disease, she and co-workers performed VITAL, a large, nationwide, randomized, double-blind, placebo-managed trial. The researchers enrolled a complete of 25,871 adults elderly 50 years or older, for men, and 55 years or older, for women. These participants had been first randomized 1:1 to obtain both 2,000 UI per day of vitamin D3 or placebo, and then, in a -by- factorial design, again randomized 1:1 to both 1 mg per day of n-3 fatty acids or placebo. Randomization took place from November 2011 to March 2014, with treatment continuing through December 2017. Physician-diagnosed autoimmune diseases were reported by contributors every year and confirmed through medical records.

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