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Epidemiology

Longitudinal measures of maternal vitamin D and neonatal body composition

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 73, pages 424–431 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

Vitamin D status has been associated with fetal growth and offspring’s bone mass in some observational studies. We characterize the trajectory of total maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration by race and examine whether vitamin D status is associated with neonatal anthropometry and body composition as assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Subjects/methods

Three longitudinal pregnancy samples from the Memphis site of the Calcium for Preeclampsia Prevention trial (1992–1995) were used. Racial differences in total 25(OH)D trajectories (n = 343 women) were tested using an interaction term between blood draw gestational week and race in linear mixed-effects models. Linear regression and linear mixed-effects models estimated the adjusted associations between total 25(OH)D concentration with neonatal anthropometry and body composition (n = 252 with DXA) including interactions with infant sex and serum calcium.

Results

Total 25(OH)D concentration increased with gestational age, but its trajectory over pregnancy did not differ between African–American and Caucasian women. Deficient maternal vitamin D (25(OH)D concentration <20 ng/ml) was associated with lower neonatal total bone mineral density (β −0.009 g/cm2; 95% CI −0.016, −0.002). Among male newborns, deficiency was also associated with lower lean mass (−217 g; −391, −43) and birthweight (−308 g; −540, −76). Deficient maternal vitamin D was also associated with lower ponderal index (β –2.3 kg/m3; 95% CI −4.0, −0.5) among those in the lowest calcium tertile.

Conclusion

Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is associated with lower bone density and smaller size at birth in certain subgroups suggesting its importance in fetal development.

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Funding

Supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The CPEP trial was originally supported by contracts (N01-HD-1-3121, -3122, -3123, -3124, -3125, and -3126; N01-HD-3154; and N01-HD-5-3246) with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with co-funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Additional biomarker assays including for vitamin D was supported by contract (HHSN275201300023I-HHSN2750002) with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Nansi S. Boghossian

  2. Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Winston Koo

  3. Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Aiyi Liu, Sunni L. Mumford & Edwina H. Yeung

  4. Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, MN, USA

    Michael Y. Tsai

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  1. Nansi S. Boghossian
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Correspondence to Edwina H. Yeung.

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Boghossian, N.S., Koo, W., Liu, A. et al. Longitudinal measures of maternal vitamin D and neonatal body composition. Eur J Clin Nutr 73, 424–431 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0212-0

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