Maternal and neonatal vitamin D status, genotype and childhood celiac disease

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 12; no. 7; p. e0179080
• Main Authors: Mårild, Karl, Tapia, German, Haugen, Margareta, Dahl, Sandra R, Cohen, Arieh S, Lundqvist, Marika, Lie, Benedicte A, Stene, Lars C, Størdal, Ketil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 07.07.2017; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; Adult; Alleles; Analysis; Autoimmune diseases; Biology and life sciences; Celiac disease; Celiac Disease - blood; Celiac Disease - genetics; Celiac Disease - pathology; Child; Children; Development and progression; Disease control; Disorders; Female; Genetic aspects; Genetic susceptibility; Genotype; Gluten; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Humans; Infant; Male; Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - genetics; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolism; Myleus; Neonates; Newborn babies; Offspring; People and Places; Physical sciences; Physiological aspects; Postpartum; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications - blood; Pregnancy Complications - genetics; Pregnancy Complications - pathology; Regression analysis; Regression models; Risk Factors; Seasonal variations; Small intestine; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin D - genetics; Vitamin D Deficiency - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - genetics; Vitamin D Deficiency - pathology; Vitamin deficiency; Womens health; Denmark; Norway
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179080

Low concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D during pregnancy may be associated with offspring autoimmune disorders. Little is known about environmental triggers except gluten for celiac disease, a common immune-mediated disorder where seasonality of birth has been reported as a risk factor. We therefore aimed to test whether low maternal and neonatal 25-hydroxyvitamin D predicted higher risk of childhood celiac disease. In this Norwegian nationwide pregnancy cohort (n = 113,053) and nested case-control study, we analyzed 25-hydroxyvitamin D in maternal blood from mid-pregnancy, postpartum and cord plasma of 416 children who developed celiac disease and 570 randomly selected controls. Mothers and children were genotyped for established celiac disease and vitamin D metabolism variants. We used mixed linear regression models and logistic regression to study associations. There was no significant difference in average 25-hydroxyvitamin D between cases and controls (63.1 and 62.1 nmol/l, respectively, p = 0.28), and no significant linear trend (adjusted odds ratio per 10 nM increase 1.05, 95% CI: 0.93-1.17). Results were similar when analyzing the mid-pregnancy, postpartum or cord plasma separately. Genetic variants for vitamin D deficiency were not associated with celiac disease (odds ratio per risk allele of the child, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.90 to 1.10, odds ratio per risk allele of the mother 0.94; 95% CI 0.85 to 1.04). Vitamin D intake in pregnancy or by the child in early life did not predict later celiac disease. Adjustment for established genetic risk markers for celiac disease gave similar results. We found no support for the hypothesis that maternal or neonatal vitamin D status is related to the risk of childhood celiac disease.