2025-08-05 デラウェア大学 (UD)
Higher vitamin D levels in a mother’s blood during pregnancy have been linked to higher IQ scores in early childhood and reduced behavioral problems.
<関連情報>
- https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2025/august/melissa-melough-pregnancy-vitamin-deficiency-research/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002916525003399
妊娠中のビタミンD濃度と子どもの認知発達:環境要因が子どもの健康結果に与える影響プログラムにおける縦断的コホート研究 Gestational vitamin D concentration and child cognitive development: a longitudinal cohort study in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program
Melissa M. Melough, Monica McGrath, Meredith Palmore, Brent R. Collett, Jean M. Kerver, Christine W. Hockett, Rebecca J. Schmidt, Rachel S. Kelly, Kristen Lyall, Qi Zhao, Alison E. Hipwell, Susan A. Korrick, Diane Gilbert-Diamond, Scott T. Weiss, Su H. Chu, Hooman Mirzakhani, Jennifer M. Porter, Sheela Sathyanarayana,for the ECHO Cohort Consortium
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Available online: 23 June 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.06.017
Abstract
Background
Low vitamin D concentrations are common—especially among those with darker pigmented skin—and are frequently observed during pregnancy. Given its important role in brain development, inadequate gestational vitamin D may impair child cognitive development.
Objectives
We aimed to evaluate associations of gestational vitamin D concentrations with childhood cognitive scores, explore whether this relationship differs by self-reported race, and examine sensitive exposure windows within pregnancy.
Methods
This prospective cohort study included 912 mother–child dyads (37.3% Black, 52.3% White) from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes program. 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations were measured in prenatal or cord blood collected between 4 and 42 wk gestation (median: 23 wk). Children’s cognition was assessed at ages 7–12 y using the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery. Relationships of 25(OH)D and cognitive scores were examined using mixed-effects linear models adjusted for confounders. Potential sensitive periods were explored by estimating population 25(OH)D patterns across gestation for varying levels of the cognitive outcomes.
Results
Mean gestational 25(OH)D was 23.8 ng/mL (SD: 10.0 ng/mL). Each 10-ng/mL increase was associated with greater overall (β: 1.11; 95% CI: 0.08, 2.14) and fluid cognition scores (β: 1.21; 95% CI: 0.07, 2.34), but not crystallized cognition. Although these associations were not significantly modified by self-reported race, associations appeared stronger in children of Black mothers (β: 2.99; 95% CI: 0.82, 5.16) than those in non-Black mothers (β: 0.43; 95% CI: -0.93, 1.78) for fluid cognition. Early pregnancy may be a critical exposure period, evidenced by the greatest divergence in the pattern of 25(OH)D during this period between the mothers of children in the 90th and those in the 10th percentiles of cognitive outcomes.
Conclusions
Gestational 25(OH)D concentrations were positively associated with cognitive scores, especially in children of Black mothers. Given higher deficiency risk among Black women, vitamin D repletion before or in early pregnancy may be an important strategy for reducing racial disparities in child neurodevelopment.
