Abstract
We aimed to investigate whether the newborns of mothers with maternal depression (MD) had lower vitamin D levels than newborns of non-MD (NMD) mothers and identify the potential mechanism underlying this association. Maternal depressive symptoms in late pregnancy and concentrations of cord blood 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) were measured in 1491 mother-infant pairs. Data on maternal sociodemographic characteristics, health status, lifestyle and birth outcomes were prospectively collected. For infants born in winter-spring, the infants of MD mothers had significantly reduced concentrations of 25(OH) D (adjusted β = −3.51 nmol/L; 95% CI: −6.19, −0.84; P = 0.010) and lower birth weight (3267 ± 470 g vs 3348 ± 598 g, F = 4.64, P = 0.031), compared with the infants of NMD mothers. A significant, inverse linear relationship was noted between maternal depression scores and the concentration of 25(OH)D for infants born in winter-spring (adjusted β = −0.158; 95% CI: −0.259, −0.057). The significant, inverse linear relationship between maternal depression scores and fetomaternal ratios of 25(OH) D was also observed among the infants born in winter-spring (adjusted β = −0.005; 95% CI: −0.008, −0.003). MD appears to significantly attenuate the vitamin D concentrations and birth weight of infants born in winter-spring. A decreased fetomaternal ratio of 25(OH)D might be involved in this biological pathway.
Highlights
Increasing evidence suggests that low vitamin D concentration in cord blood at birth may be an independent risk factor of adverse health outcomes in offspring, including elevated immune responses[1], infection[2], wheezing[3] and mental disease[4]
We examined the concentration of cord blood 25(OH) D in 1,491 neonates in Hefei, China and assessed the association between Maternal depression (MD) in late pregnancy and cord blood 25(OH) D concentrations at birth
The potential mechanism by which MD influences fetal vitamin D levels through disturbing maternal vitamin D concentrations or the fetomaternal ratio of vitamin D was examined in this study
Summary
Increasing evidence suggests that low vitamin D concentration in cord blood at birth may be an independent risk factor of adverse health outcomes in offspring, including elevated immune responses[1], infection[2], wheezing[3] and mental disease[4]. The seasonality of both individual vitamin D levels and depressive symptoms have been observed in previous studies[16, 17] These convergent clues led to the new hypothesis that decreased levels of maternal and fetal vitamin D might be a potential biological pathway underlying the association between MD during pregnancy and adverse offspring development. To date, it is unclear whether the newborns of depressive mothers had lower vitamin D concentrations compared with newborns of non-depressive mothers. The potential mechanism by which MD influences fetal vitamin D levels through disturbing maternal vitamin D concentrations or the fetomaternal ratio of vitamin D was examined in this study
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