Low maternal intake of vitamin D has been shown to increase the chances of preterm labor in African American and Puerto Rican females, according to a new study published in American Journal of Epidemiology. The findings may provide insight into the biology connecting low vitamin D and preterm birth.
"Vitamin D is unique in that while we get it from our diets, our primary source is our body making it from sunlight," said lead author Lisa Bodnar, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., associate professor in the University of Pittsburgh Public Health's Department of Epidemiology. "Previous studies using conservative definitions for vitamin D deficiency have found that nearly half of black women and about 5% of white women in the United States have vitamin D concentrations that are too low."
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh conducted a study to determine the link between maternal vitamin D and the risk of spontaneous preterm labor in women before the 35-week gestation period. The researchers used a sample of more than 700 cases of preterm birth and 2,600 full-term births collected by the Collaborative Perinatal Project that was conducted in 12 U.S. medical centers from 1959 to 1965. The blood samples collected by the project were well-preserved and able to be tested for vitamin D levels 40 years later.
Among non-white mothers, the incidence of spontaneous, preterm labor decreased by as much as 30% as vitamin D levels in blood increased. The researchers did not find similar relationships between maternal vitamin D levels and preterm birth in white women.
"We were concerned that finding this association only in non-white women meant that other factors we did not measure accounted for the link between low vitamin D levels and spontaneous preterm birth in black and Puerto Rican mothers," Bodnar said. "Even after applying these methods, vitamin D deficiency remained associated with spontaneous preterm birth."
Researchers also discovered that vitamin D deficiency was related to preterm births with damage to the placenta caused by inflammation. The vitamin D spontaneous preterm birth relationship should be examined in modern cohorts with detailed data on skin pigmentation and other covariates, the researchers concluded.
A previous study from the University of Pittsburgh linked vitamin D deficiency having a relation with fetal growth that may vary by race.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh conducted a study to determine the link between maternal vitamin D and the risk of spontaneous preterm labor in women before the 35-week gestation period. The researchers used a sample of more than 700 cases of preterm birth and 2,600 full-term births collected by the Collaborative Perinatal Project that was conducted in 12 U.S. medical centers from 1959 to 1965. The blood samples collected by the project were well-preserved and able to be tested for vitamin D levels 40 years later.
Among non-white mothers, the incidence of spontaneous, preterm labor decreased by as much as 30% as vitamin D levels in blood increased. The researchers did not find similar relationships between maternal vitamin D levels and preterm birth in white women.
"We were concerned that finding this association only in non-white women meant that other factors we did not measure accounted for the link between low vitamin D levels and spontaneous preterm birth in black and Puerto Rican mothers," Bodnar said. "Even after applying these methods, vitamin D deficiency remained associated with spontaneous preterm birth."
Researchers also discovered that vitamin D deficiency was related to preterm births with damage to the placenta caused by inflammation. The vitamin D spontaneous preterm birth relationship should be examined in modern cohorts with detailed data on skin pigmentation and other covariates, the researchers concluded.
A previous study from the University of Pittsburgh linked vitamin D deficiency having a relation with fetal growth that may vary by race.
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