[IN2-2.003] Gestational Vitamin D and the Risk of Multiple Sclerosis in the Offspring

Fariba Mirzaei, Karin Michels, Kassandra Munger, Eilis O'Reilly, Tanuja Chitnis, Edward Giovannucci, Alberto Ascherio, Boston, MA

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of maternal vitamin D exposure during pregnancy on multiple sclerosis (MS) in the offspring. BACKGROUND: Vitamin D may have a protective role in the etiology of MS but the effect of gestational vitamin D on MS has not been studied. DESIGN/METHODS: In-utero vitamin D exposure and risk of adult onset MS was examined among a cohort of 35,794 nurses whose mothers' participated in the Nurses' Mothers' Study. The Nurses' Mothers' Study is a subcohort of the Nurses' Health Study and the Nurses' Health Study II which was restricted to nurses with living, biological mothers who completed a questionnaire in 2001 about their experiences and diet during pregnancy with their nurse-daughter. We studied the association between maternal milk intake, maternal dietary vitamin D intake, and predicted maternal serum 25(OH) D during pregnancy and their daughters' risk of developing MS. RESULTS: MS was diagnosed in 199 women. Risk of MS was lower among women born to mothers with high milk or vitamin D intake in pregnancy. The age adjusted relative risk (RR) of MS among the nurse-daughters was 0.44 (95% CI: 0.16 to 1.23; p for trend=0.001) for mothers consuming 4 glasses of milk per day or more as compared with those consuming milk less than 3 glasses per month, and 0.55 (95% CI: 0.35 to 0.88; p for trend=0.001) for mothers in the highest quintile of dietary vitamin D intake compared with those in the lowest. The predicted 25(OH) vitamin D level in the pregnant mothers was also inversely associated with the risk of MS in their daughters (age adjusted RR comparing extreme quintiles= 0.58; 95% CI: 0.37 to 0.90; p for trend=0.001). CONCLUSIONS/RELEVANCE: These results are consistent with a protective effect of maternal milk and vitamin D intake on risk of developing MS.
Category - Neuroepidemiology/Health Services and Outcomes Research - Other

Sunday, April 11, 2010 4:15 PM

Platform Session: Integrated Neuroscience: Pediatric Demyelinating Disorders (3:45 PM-5:00 PM)