title: Gestational vitamin D and the risk of multiple sclerosis in offspring.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Vitamin D may have a protective role in the etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), but the effect of gestational vitamin D on adult onset MS has not been studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 2001, 35,794 mothers of participants of the Nurses' Health Study II completed a questionnaire inquiring about their experiences and diet during pregnancy with their nurse daughters. We studied the association of maternal milk intake, maternal dietary vitamin D intake, and predicted maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) during pregnancy and their daughters' risk of developing MS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MS was diagnosed in 199 women. The relative risk of MS was lower among women born to mothers with high milk or vitamin D intake during pregnancy. The multivariate adjusted rate ratio (RR) of MS was 0.62 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40-0.95; p trend = 0.001) for nurses whose mothers consumed 2 to 3 glasses of milk per day compared with those whose mothers consumed <3 glasses per month, and 0.57 (95% CI, 0.35-0.91; p trend = 0.002) for nurses with mothers in the highest quintile of dietary vitamin D intake compared with those in the lowest. The predicted 25(OH)D level in the pregnant mothers was also inversely associated with the risk of MS in their daughters. Comparing extreme quintiles, the adjusted RR was 0.59; (95% CI, 0.37-0.92; p trend = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher maternal milk and vitamin D intake during pregnancy may be associated with a lower risk of developing MS in offspring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. fmirzaei@hsph.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Fariba
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mirzaei
authors.forename: Karin B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Michels
authors.forename: Kassandra
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Munger
authors.forename: Eilis
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: O'Reilly
authors.forename: Tanuja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chitnis
authors.forename: Michele R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Forman
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giovannucci
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rosner
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ascherio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032721:Adult Children; D000818:Animals; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008892:Milk; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D