Samples of maternal blood were taken prior to 22 weeks pregnancy and again just before delivery. Samples of newborn umbilical cord blood also were tested for 25 hydroxyvitamin D, an indicator of vitamin D status.
Low vitamin D early in pregnancy was associated with a five-fold increase in the odds of preeclampsia, said Dr. Bodnar, who also is an assistant investigator at the university-affiliated Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI). Data showed this increase risk persisted even after adjusting for other known risk factors such as race, ethnicity and pre-pregnancy body weight. Also troubling was the fact that many of the women reported taking prenatal vitamins, which typically contain 200 to 400 International Units of vitamin D, she said.
Even a small decline in vitamin D concentration more than doubled the risk of preeclampsia, noted James M. Roberts, M.D., senior author of the study and MWRI founding director. And since newborns vitamin D stores are completely reliant on vitamin D from the mother, low vitamin levels also were observed in the umbilical cord blood of newborns from mothers with preeclampsia.
A vitamin closely associated with bone health, vitamin D deficiency early in life is associated with rickets a disorder thought to have been eradicated in the United States more than 50 years ago as well as increased risk for type 1 diabetes, asthma and schizophrenia.
In the developing world, preeclampsia accounts for up to 80 percent of maternal deaths. And while treatment is more available in developed countries, preeclampsia remains the leading cause of maternal death. Infants born to mothers with preeclampsia have a risk of mortality five times greater than those born to women with normal pregnancies. In the United States alone, nearly 15 percent of preterm deliveries are a result of preeclampsia.
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| Contact: Michele D. Baum BaumMD@upmc.edu 412-647-3555 University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences Source:Eurekalert |