A prospective population-based study of gestational vitamin D status and brain morphology in preadolescents

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Fla.), 2020-04, Vol.209, p.116514-116514, Article 116514
• Main Authors: Zou, Runyu, El Marroun, Hanan, McGrath, John J., Muetzel, Ryan L., Hillegers, Manon, White, Tonya, Tiemeier, Henning
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; Alcohol use; Autism; Cerebellum; Cerebellum - anatomy & histology; Cerebellum - diagnostic imaging; Cerebellum - growth & development; Cerebral Cortex - anatomy & histology; Cerebral Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral Cortex - growth & development; Child; Children; Children & youth; Cord blood; Epidemiology; Ethnicity; Family income; Female; Fetuses; Gestation; Gestational age; Gray Matter - anatomy & histology; Gray Matter - diagnostic imaging; Gray Matter - growth & development; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Medical imaging; Morphology; Netherlands; Neuroimaging; Population; Population studies; Population-based studies; Pregnancy; Pregnancy - blood; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Prospective Studies; Substantia alba; Substantia grisea; Surface area; Umbilical cord; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - analogs & derivatives; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - blood; Vitamin deficiency; White Matter - anatomy & histology; White Matter - diagnostic imaging; White Matter - growth & development
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116514

Low vitamin D level during pregnancy has been associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children. However, the underlying neurobiological mechanism remains largely unknown. This study investigated the association between gestational 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration and brain morphology in 2597 children at the age of 10 years in the population-based Generation R Study. We studied both 25(OH)D in maternal venous blood in mid-gestation and in umbilical cord blood at delivery, in relation to brain volumetric measures and surface-based cortical metrics including cortical thickness, surface area, and gyrification using linear regression. We found exposure to higher maternal 25(OH)D concentrations in mid-gestation was associated with a larger cerebellar volume in children (b ​= ​0.02, 95%CI 0.001 to 0.04), however this association did not remain after correction for multiple comparisons. In addition, children exposed to persistently deficient (i.e.,