Reduced tibial speed of sound in Chinese infants at birth compared with Caucasian peers: the effects of race, gender, and vitamin D on fetal bone development

Abstract

This study compared bone status between Chinese and Caucasian infants at birth, showing that Chinese neonates have lower tibial speed of sound, which is influenced by gender, gestational age, season of birth, and maternal vitamin D status. The effects of these factors on fetal bone development were discussed. We compared the differences of speed of sound (SOS) accessed by quantitative ultrasound between Chinese and Caucasian infants at birth and explored the relationship between the concentrations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and bone SOS in maternal-infant pairs. SOS for the tibial bone was measured at birth in 267 Chinese infants. We used the Z-scores for the direct comparisons which were available from the instrument based data of gender and age-matched Caucasian peers. The concentrations of serum 25(OH)D and bone SOS in 32 maternal-infant pairs were measured at birth in winters. the Chinese infants had lower SOS demonstrated by the Z-scores. Significant differences of SOS and Z-scores were found between genders, gestational ages, birth weight, and seasons of birth. The differences of Z-scores negatively decreased with gestational age, suggesting that the bone status of Chinese infants lags behind that of the Caucasian infants during the last trimester of pregnancy in utero. The tibial SOS of infants born in winters was 2.0% higher than those born in summers after adjustment. The infant SOS correlated with maternal serum 25(OH)D (r = 0.399, P = 0.024) and infant serum 25(OH)D (r = 0.394, P = 0.026). Chinese neonates have lower SOS which is influenced by gender, gestational age, season of birth, and maternal vitamin D status. It is inferred that, in pace with gestational age, race and gender effects on fetal bone development are modified by materno-fetal vitamin D status.