Gestational Vitamin D Deficiency and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Overview

Journal BJPsych Open

Publisher Cambridge University Press

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2017 Apr 28

PMID 28446959

Citations 52

Authors

Anna A E Vinkhuyzen

Darryl W Eyles

Thomas H J Burne

Laura M E Blanken

Claudia J Kruithof

Frank Verhulst

Tonya White

Vincent W Jaddoe

Henning Tiemeier

John J McGrath

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: There is growing interest in linking vitamin D deficiency with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The association between vitamin D deficiency during gestation, a critical period in neurodevelopment, and ASD is not well understood.

Aims: To determine the association between gestational vitamin D status and ASD.

Method: Based on a birth cohort (=4334), we examined the association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), assessed from both maternal mid-gestation sera and neonatal sera, and ASD (defined by clinical records; =68 cases).

Results: Individuals in the 25OHD-deficient group at mid-gestation had more than twofold increased risk of ASD (odds ratio (OR)=2.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09 to 5.07, =0.03) compared with the sufficient group. The findings persisted in analyses including children of European ethnicity only.

Conclusions: Mid-gestational vitamin D deficiency was associated with an increased risk of ASD. Because gestational vitamin D deficiency is readily preventable with safe, inexpensive and readily available supplementation, this risk factor warrants closer scrutiny.

Declaration Of Interest: None.

Copyright And Usage: © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.

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