Type I diabetes 2X more likely if mother had low vitamin D – Jan 2012

Maternal serum levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D during pregnancy and risk of type 1 diabetes in the offspring.

Diabetes. 2012 Jan;61(1):175-8. Epub 2011 Nov 28.
Sørensen IM, Joner G, Jenum PA, Eskild A, Torjesen PA, Stene LC.
Department of Pediatrics, Oslo University Hospital Ullevål, Oslo, Norway. i.m.sorensen@medisin.uio.no

Previous studies indicate reduced risk of type 1 diabetes after intake of vitamin D supplements during pregnancy or early childhood. We aimed to test whether lower maternal serum concentrations of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OH D) during pregnancy were associated with an increased risk of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes. In this case-control study nested within a cohort of 29,072 women in Norway, 25-OH D levels were measured using a radioimmunoassay on samples from late pregnancy in 109 women delivering a child who developed type 1 diabetes before 15 years of age (case subjects) and from 219 control women. Dividing the levels of maternal 25-OH D into quartiles, there was a trend toward a higher risk of type 1 diabetes with lower levels of vitamin D during pregnancy.

The odds of type 1 diabetes was more than twofold higher for the offspring of women with the lowest levels of 25-OH D compared with the offspring of those with levels above the upper quartile.

Given future replication in independent cohorts, our findings provide support for the initiation of a randomized intervention trial to prevent type 1 diabetes in children by enhancing maternal 25-OH D status during pregnancy.

PMID: 22124461


See also VitaminDWiki

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