Low maternal vitamin D status and fetal bone development: cohort study
Low maternal vitamin D status and fetal bone development: cohort study
Recent findings suggest that maternal vitamin D insufficiency during pregnancy has consequences for the offspring's bone health in later life. To investigate whether maternal vitamin D insufficiency affects fetal femur growth in ways similar to those seen in childhood rickets and study the timing during gestation of any effect of maternal vitamin D status, we studied 424 pregnant women within a prospective longitudinal study of maternal nutrition and lifestyle before and during pregnancy (Southampton Women's Survey). Using high-resolution 3D ultrasound, we measured fetal femur length and distal metaphyseal cross-sectional area, together with the ratio of femoral metaphyseal cross-sectional area to femur length (femoral splaying index). Lower maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin vitamin D concentration was not related to fetal femur length but was associated with greater femoral metaphyseal cross-sectional area and a higher femoral splaying index at 19 weeks' gestation [r = -0.16, 95% confidence interbal (CI) -0.25 to -0.06 and r = -0.17, 95% CI -0.26 to -0.07, respectively] and at 34 weeks' gestation (r = -0.10, 95% CI -0.20 to 0.00 and r = -0.11, 95% CI -0.21 to -0.01, respectively). Three groups of women were identified with 25-hydroxyvitamin vitamin D concentrations that were sufficient/borderline (>50 nmol/L, 63.4%), insufficient (25 to 50 nmol/L, 30.7%), and deficient (25 nmol/L, 5.9%). Across these groups, the geometric mean femoral splaying indices at 19 weeks' gestation increased from 0.074 (sufficient/borderline) to 0.078 (insufficient) and 0.084 (deficient). Our observations suggest that maternal vitamin D insufficiency can influence fetal femoral development as early as 19 weeks' gestation. This suggests that measures to improve maternal vitamin D status should be instituted in early pregnancy
vitamin D, fetus, developmental origins, osteoporosis, three-dimensional ultrasound
14-19
Mahon, Pamela
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Harvey, Nicholas
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Crozier, Sarah
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Inskip, Hazel
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Robinson, Sian
ba591c98-4380-456a-be8a-c452f992b69b
Arden, Nigel
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Swaminathan, Rama
ac7e715f-9eac-4ac9-a21d-5b1897fa249e
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Godfrey, Keith
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
January 2010
Mahon, Pamela
5a824126-9030-4e8a-9a0e-dafb8aa280f9
Harvey, Nicholas
ce487fb4-d360-4aac-9d17-9466d6cba145
Crozier, Sarah
a9c88016-8f46-4659-954e-4d7af8a49594
Inskip, Hazel
5fb4470a-9379-49b2-a533-9da8e61058b7
Robinson, Sian
ba591c98-4380-456a-be8a-c452f992b69b
Arden, Nigel
23af958d-835c-4d79-be54-4bbe4c68077f
Swaminathan, Rama
ac7e715f-9eac-4ac9-a21d-5b1897fa249e
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Godfrey, Keith
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Mahon, Pamela, Harvey, Nicholas, Crozier, Sarah, Inskip, Hazel, Robinson, Sian, Arden, Nigel, Swaminathan, Rama, Cooper, Cyrus and Godfrey, Keith
,
SWS Study Group
(2010)
Low maternal vitamin D status and fetal bone development: cohort study.
Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 25 (1), .
(doi:10.1359/jbmr.090701).
Abstract
Recent findings suggest that maternal vitamin D insufficiency during pregnancy has consequences for the offspring's bone health in later life. To investigate whether maternal vitamin D insufficiency affects fetal femur growth in ways similar to those seen in childhood rickets and study the timing during gestation of any effect of maternal vitamin D status, we studied 424 pregnant women within a prospective longitudinal study of maternal nutrition and lifestyle before and during pregnancy (Southampton Women's Survey). Using high-resolution 3D ultrasound, we measured fetal femur length and distal metaphyseal cross-sectional area, together with the ratio of femoral metaphyseal cross-sectional area to femur length (femoral splaying index). Lower maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin vitamin D concentration was not related to fetal femur length but was associated with greater femoral metaphyseal cross-sectional area and a higher femoral splaying index at 19 weeks' gestation [r = -0.16, 95% confidence interbal (CI) -0.25 to -0.06 and r = -0.17, 95% CI -0.26 to -0.07, respectively] and at 34 weeks' gestation (r = -0.10, 95% CI -0.20 to 0.00 and r = -0.11, 95% CI -0.21 to -0.01, respectively). Three groups of women were identified with 25-hydroxyvitamin vitamin D concentrations that were sufficient/borderline (>50 nmol/L, 63.4%), insufficient (25 to 50 nmol/L, 30.7%), and deficient (25 nmol/L, 5.9%). Across these groups, the geometric mean femoral splaying indices at 19 weeks' gestation increased from 0.074 (sufficient/borderline) to 0.078 (insufficient) and 0.084 (deficient). Our observations suggest that maternal vitamin D insufficiency can influence fetal femoral development as early as 19 weeks' gestation. This suggests that measures to improve maternal vitamin D status should be instituted in early pregnancy
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Published date: January 2010
Keywords:
vitamin D, fetus, developmental origins, osteoporosis, three-dimensional ultrasound
Organisations:
Dev Origins of Health & Disease
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 72534
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/72534
ISSN: 0884-0431
PURE UUID: 3b19f408-90de-49c0-bc14-30a328abb89f
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Date deposited: 17 Feb 2010
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:58
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Author:
Pamela Mahon
Author:
Sarah Crozier
Author:
Sian Robinson
Author:
Rama Swaminathan
Corporate Author: SWS Study Group
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