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WEDNESDAY, May 22, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Maternal vitamin D deficiency, as early as the first trimester of pregnancy, is associated with an increased risk for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), according to a study recently published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Jin Xia, from the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University in Indianapolis, and colleagues used data from the Fetal Growth Studies-Singleton Cohort to prospectively investigate the relationship between vitamin D status during early to midpregnancy and GDM risk. Plasma levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and D3 and vitamin D binding protein were measured at gestational weeks 10 to 14, 15 to 26, 23 to 31, and 33 to 39 in 107 women with GDM and 214 controls.<\/p>\n
The researchers observed a threshold effect for the relationship between vitamin D biomarkers and GDM risk. At 10 to 14 gestational weeks, vitamin D deficiency (<50 nmol\/L) was associated with a 2.82-fold increased risk for GDM. Among women with persistent vitamin D deficiency at 10 to 14 and 15 to 26 weeks of gestation, there was a 4.46-fold elevated risk for GDM versus women who were persistently nondeficient.<\/p>\n
“Assessment of vitamin D status in early pregnancy may be clinically important and valuable for improving risk stratification and developing effective interventions for the primary prevention of GDM,” the authors write.<\/p>\n