Low vitamin D during pregnancy is associated with infantile eczema by up-regulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and affecting FOXP3 expression: A bidirectional cohort study

• Published in: The Journal of nutritional biochemistry Vol. 124; p. 109516
• Main Authors: Ding, Ya-Jie, Li, Xue-Ning, Xiao, Zhe, Li, Chen-Yang, Jia, Li-Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.2024
• Subjects: Child; Cohort Studies; Dermatitis, Atopic; Eczema - epidemiology; Female; Forkhead Transcription Factors - genetics; Humans; Infant; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases - genetics; Placenta; Pregnancy; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; Signal Transduction; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases - genetics; Up-Regulation; Vitamin D; Vitamin D Deficiency; Vitamins; Pregnant woman; Infantile eczema; Vitamin D; Regulatory T cells; FOXP3
• ISSN: 0955-2863; 1873-4847
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2023.109516

Vitamin D has received increasing attention because of its association with atopic disease development. Limited studies that have been done on the impact of maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy on infantile eczema are still debatable. We wanted to discover the effect of maternal vitamin D on infantile eczema and explore whether regulatory T cells (Treg) play a role in this process. 219 pairs of mothers and children were enrolled. Maternal fasting venous blood was collected in pregnancy's second and third trimesters to determine vitamin D levels. Cord blood and placenta samples were collected during childbirth for detecting levels of genes, proteins and cytokines. Pediatricians followed up the prevalence of eczema in infants within 1 year. The reported rate of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency was 35.6% and 28.3%. Lower maternal 25(OH)D levels were related to a higher risk of infantile eczema. Foxp3 gene expression is lower in cord blood of infants with eczema compared to infants without eczema. There was a positive correlation between maternal 25(OH)D levels and the expression of FOXP3 gene in cord blood. Compared to vitamin D sufficiency women, vitamin D deficiency women's placental FOXP3 protein expression was decreased and PI3K/AKT/mTOR protein was up-regulated. Our study demonstrates that low prenatal maternal vitamin D levels increased the risk of infantile eczema aged 0-1 year, which might be related to the downregulating of the FOXP3 gene expression in cord blood and decreased placental FOXP3 protein expression. Low placental FOXP3 protein was related with activating PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.