Long-term hospitalization during pregnancy is a risk factor for vitamin D deficiency in neonates.
In order to examine the effects of long-term hospitalization during pregnancy on vitamin D metabolism in pregnant women and neonates, we measured the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels in pregnant women, as well as measuring 25OHD levels in cord blood and breast milk. In pregnant women hospitalized for longer than 1 month, the serum 25OHD levels were decreased at delivery compared with those in control subjects (10.9 +/- 2.6 ng/l vs 19.5 +/- 4.9 ng/l; P < 0.01). Although the levels of 25OHD in the cord blood were not significantly different between the long-term hospitalized and control pregnant women in this study (9.36 +/- 1.7 ng/l vs 11.1 +/- 3.0 ng/l), the 25OHD concentrations in the cord blood were significantly lower than the maternal levels in both groups; the ratios of the levels in cord blood to sera in the long-term hospitalized women and control subjects were 82.1% and 60.3%, respectively. Long maternal hospitalization does not always cause neonatal vitamin D deficiency, but could be one of its major risk factors. Therefore, sufficient sunlight exposure and intake of sufficient vitamin D are considered to be important to prevent vitamin D deficiency in long-term hospitalized pregnant women as well as their babies.
Nishimura
Kumi
K
Department of Developmental Medicine (Pediatrics), Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamada-oka, Suita 565-0871, Japan.
Shima
Masaaki
M
Tsugawa
Naoko
N
Matsumoto
Sayuri
S
Hirai
Haruhiko
H
Santo
Yoko
Y
Nakajima
Shigeo
S
Iwata
Morihiro
M
Takagi
Tetsu
T
Kanda
Yuki
Y
Kanzaki
Toru
T
Okano
Toshio
T
Ozono
Keiichi
K
D000328:Adult; D002112:Calcifediol / Q000097:blood*; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry; D005865:Gestational Age; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry; D010710:Phosphates / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy*; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D013472:Sunlight; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control
D010710:Phosphates; D002112:Calcifediol; D002118:Calcium