Maternal Antenatal Vitamin D Status and Offspring Muscle Development: Findings From the Southampton Women's Survey
Year: 2013
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: CONTEXT: Maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] status in pregnancy has been associated with offspring bone development and adiposity. Vitamin D has also been implicated in postnatal muscle function, but little is known about a role for antenatal 25(OH)D exposure in programming muscle development. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the associations between maternal plasma 25(OH)D status at 34 weeks of gestation and offspring lean mass and muscle strength at 4 years of age. DESIGN AND SETTING: We studied a prospective UK population-based mother-offspring cohort: the Southampton Women's Survey (SWS). PARTICIPANTS: Initially, 12,583 nonpregnant women were recruited into the SWS, of whom 3159 had singleton pregnancies; 678 mother-child pairs were included in this analysis. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURED: At 4 years of age, offspring assessments included hand grip strength and whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, yielding lean mass and percent lean mass. Physical activity was assessed by 7-day accelerometry in a subset of children (n=326). RESULTS: The maternal serum 25(OH)D concentration in pregnancy was positively associated with offspring height-adjusted hand grip strength (β=0.10 SD/SD, P=.013), which persisted after adjustment for maternal confounding factors, duration of breastfeeding, and child's physical activity at 4 years (β=0.13 SD/SD, P=.014). Maternal 25(OH)D was also positively associated with offspring percent lean mass (β=0.11 SD/SD, P=.006), but not total lean mass (β=0.06 SD/SD, P=.15). However, this association did not persist after adjustment for confounding factors (β=0.09 SD/SD, P=.11). CONCLUSIONS: This observational study suggests that intrauterine exposure to 25(OH)D during late pregnancy might influence offspring muscle development through an effect primarily on muscle strength rather than on muscle mass.
DOI: 10.1210/jc.2013-3241
Authors: Nicholas C. Harvey, Rebecca J. Moon, Avan Aihie Sayer, Georgia Ntani, Justin H. Davies, M. Kassim Javaid, Sian M. Robinson, Keith M. Godfrey, Hazel M. Inskip, Cyrus Cooper, The Southampton Women's Survey Study Group
Institutions: National Health Service, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, National Institute for Health and Care Research, University of Oxford, NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Medical Research Council, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
Language: English
Topic: Vitamin D Research Studies
Subfield: Pathology and Forensic Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: Vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy: A systematic review, Sarcopenia, Frailty and Clinical Practice in Older People, RENEWAL: Maternal and epigenetic determinants of cardiovascular structure and function, NIHR Senior Investigator Award, G6219046052, Lifecourse Determinants of Bone and Joint Disease, NIHR Senior Investigator Award, Nutrition, Development and Lifelong Health: Studies in European Populations
OpenAlex ID: W2110917455