Abstract
Vitamin D deficiency and elevated high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) have been associated with several health outcomes, but knowledge on early life trajectories and association between 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and hs-CRP is lacking. We investigated the association between longitudinal measurements of 25(OH)D and hs-CRP, respectively, from pregnancy to childhood and throughout childhood in two Danish mother–child cohorts—the COPSAC2010 and COPSAC2000. In COPSAC2010, there was an association between 25(OH)D concentrations at week 24 in pregnancy and at age 6 months in childhood (n = 633): estimate (95% CI); 0.114 (0.041;0.187), p = 0.002, and between 25(OH)D at age 6 months and 6 years (n = 475): 0.155 (0.083;0.228), p < 0.001. This was also demonstrated in the COPSAC2000 cohort between 25(OH)D concentrations in cord blood and at age 4 years (n = 188): 0.294 (0.127;0.461), p < 0.001 and at age 6 months and 4 years (n = 264): 0.260 (0.133;0.388), p < 0.001. In COPSAC2000, we also found an association between hs-CRP at age 6 months and 12 years in childhood (n = 232): 0.183 (0.076;0.289), p < 0.001. Finally, we found a negative association between the cross-sectional measurements of 25(OH)D and hs-CRP at age 6 months (n = 613) in COPSAC2010: −0.004 (−0.008;−0.0004), p = 0.030, but this was not replicated in COPSAC2000. In this study, we found evidence of associations across timepoints of 25(OH)D concentrations from mid-pregnancy to infancy and through childhood and associations between hs-CRP levels during childhood, although with weak correlations. We also found a negative cross-sectional association between 25(OH)D and hs-CRP concentrations in COPSAC2010 proposing a role of vitamin D in systemic low-grade inflammation, though this association was not present in COPSAC2000.
Highlights
We have previously shown an association between high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in pregnant mothers and their offspring at age 6 months [12]; knowledge on the development of low-grade inflammation throughout childhood is lacking
We found an association between concentrations at week 24 in pregnancy and at age 6 months in childhood: crude estimate; 0.114 (0.041;0.187), p = 0.002, the correlation was weak (R2 = 0.015)
We demonstrated a negative association between hs-CRP and serum 25(OH)D concentrations using crosssectional measurements at age 6 months in the COPSAC2010 cohort, proposing a role of vitamin D in systemic low-grade inflammation
Summary
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is a known marker of systemic low-grade inflammation in many chronic disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) [1], cardiovascular disease [2,3], depression [4] and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [5]. Increased concentrations of hs-CRP have been linked to decreased lung function in childhood [6,7], allergic sensitization at school age [8], early life airway microbiota [9] and childhood asthma [10,11], which has led to suggestions of using hs-CRP as a clinical biomarker of low-grade inflammation for grading, diagnosing and preventing disease [11]. Mothers and their offspring at age 6 months [12]; knowledge on the development of low-grade inflammation throughout childhood is lacking. Vitamin D sufficiency in early life has been shown to be associated with several health outcomes during childhood, including greater bone mineralization [13], decreased risk of enamel defects [14], asthma [15] and various skin conditions. Experimental studies have suggested reduced replication of virus in bronchial epithelial cells [16], induced antimicrobial production [17] and upregulation in the early life airway immune profile [18]
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