(HealthDay News) — Maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) deficiency in early pregnancy is associated with increased risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) in offspring, according to a study published in JAMA Neurology.
Kassandra L. Munger, ScD, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues conducted a prospective, nested case-control study involving 193 individuals with a diagnosis of MS whose mothers are in the Finnish Maternity Cohort. One hundred seventy-six cases were matched with 326 controls to examine the correlation between serum 25(OH)D in early pregnancy and the risk for MS.
The researchers found that the mean maternal vitamin D levels were in the range of vitamin D insufficiency, and were higher in maternal controls vs cases (15.02 vs 13.86 ng/mL). The risk for MS in offspring was increased nearly 2-fold with maternal vitamin D deficiency in early pregnancy compared with women without vitamin D deficiency (relative risk, 1.90; P=.006). The risk for MS was not significantly associated with increasing serum 25(OH)D levels (P=.12).
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“Correcting maternal vitamin D deficiency in early pregnancy may have a beneficial effect on risk of MS in the offspring,” the researchers wrote.
Two authors disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.
