title: Prenatal vitamin D status and risk of psychotic experiences at age 18years-a longitudinal birth cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low early life vitamin D status is associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia and psychotic experiences. Here we examine if maternal pregnancy vitamin D concentrations are associated with offspring psychotic experiences as young adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A community sample of 2047 participants was investigated. Maternal prenatal 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations were assessed with tandem mass spectroscopy. Psychotic experiences were assessed at age 18years using a semi-structured clinical interview.
  
  
  RESULTS
  177 cohort members reported suspected or definite psychotic experiences, There was no evidence of an association between maternal 25(OH)D concentrations as quartiles (p=0.85 hypothesis test of general association versus no association across the quartiles) or as a continuous variable (p=0.89) versus experience of suspected and definite psychotic experiences at 18years. Within the cohort, only 29 subjects met criteria for a psychotic disorder at age 18. Based on this sample, there was no significant association between maternal 25(OH)D and psychotic disorder at 18years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal vitamin D levels were not associated with risk of psychotic experiences nor psychotic disorders in this birth cohort.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Mental Health, Addiction and Suicide Research, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. sarah.sullivan@bristol.ac.uk
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wills
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lawlor
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McGrath
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zammit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D
keywords: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; ALSPAC; Birth cohort; Pre-natal; Psychotic experiences