Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Western Human Nutrition Research Center » Obesity and Metabolism Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #283382
Title: Feto-maternal vitamin D status and infant whole-body bone mineral content in the first weeks of life

Author
item DROR, DAPHNA - Children'S Hospital Oakland Research Institute
item KING, JANET - Children'S Hospital Oakland Research Institute
item DURAND, D - Children'S Hospital Oakland Research Institute
item FUNG, E - Children'S Hospital Oakland Research Institute
item Allen, Lindsay - A

Submitted to: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/30/2011
Publication Date: 6/7/2012
Citation: Dror, D.K., King, J.C., Durand, D.J., Fung, E.B., Allen, L.H. 2012. Feto-maternal vitamin D status and infant whole-body bone mineral content in the first weeks of life. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 66:1016-1019. https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.79.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.79

Interpretive Summary: Fetal bone mineralization is determined by placental mineral transfer and fetal bone turnover, with maternal nutrient status, disease and conditions affecting placental transfer having possible impacts on fetal bone.1 Bone mineralization and growth during fetal development and early infancy may have implications for childhood growth and development, peak bone mass and later risk for osteoporosis.2, 3 Vitamin D, which in its biologically active form 1,25(OH)2D acts as a potent genetic regulator, may influence fetal bone accretion by upregulating expression of genes encoding rate-limiting placental calcium transport proteins (plasma membrane calcium ATPase1–4).4 Maternal vitamin D status, especially during the third trimester of gestation, has been associated with neonatal bone growth or mineralization in some studies5, 6, 7 but not in others.8 In adults, the relationship between serum 25(OH)D and bone mineral density (BMD) varies among Caucasians, African Americans and Hispanics.9 A single study with limited sample size (n=50) has previously investigated feto-maternal vitamin D status and infant whole-body bone mineral content (WBBMC) in the first 2 weeks of life.10 Oakland, California hosts a racially diverse population, with skin color and genetic variance affecting maternal vitamin D status and possibly fetal bone mineralization. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between feto-maternal vitamin D status and WBBMC at 8–21 days of age in a multiethnic population in Oakland, CA (38°N).

Technical Abstract: BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Compromised vitamin D status is common in pregnancy and may have adverse impacts on fetal development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of infant whole-body bone mineral content (WBBMC) at 8–21 days of age with feto-maternal vitamin D status in a multiethnic population in Oakland, California. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 120 women and their newborn infants. Maternal and cord blood were collected at delivery. WBBMC was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in term-born infants 8–21days post birth. RESULTS: No significant association was observed between unadjusted or size-adjusted WBBMC and feto-maternal vitamin D status analyzed continuously or categorically. In multivariate modeling, unadjusted WBBMC was predicted by bone area (P<0.0001), weight-for-age (P<0.0001) and weight-for-length (P=0.0005) Z-scores, but not by feto-maternal vitamin D status. Anthropometric predictors but not vitamin D remained significant in the multivariate model after adjustment of WBBMC for weight, bone area (bone mineral density) or logarithmically derived exponents of the denominators. CONCLUSIONS: Results of the present study do not support an association between feto-maternal vitamin D status and early infant WBBMC, raw or adjusted for inter-individual differences in size, in a multiethnic population in Northern California.