Maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are associated with small-for-gestational age births in white women

Maternal vitamin D deficiency has been associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, but its association with fetal growth restriction remains uncertain. We sought to elucidate the association between maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations in early pregnancy and the risk of small-for-gestational age birth (SGA) and explore the association between maternal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene and the risk of SGA. We conducted a nested case-control study of nulliparous pregnant women with singleton pregnancies who delivered SGA infants (n = 77 white and n = 34 black) or non-SGA infants (n = 196 white and n = 105 black). Women were followed from <16 wk gestation to delivery. Women's banked sera at <22 wk were newly measured for 25(OH)D and DNA extracted for VDR genotyping. SGA was defined as live-born infants that were <10th percentile of birth weight according to nomograms based on gender and gestational age. After confounder adjustment, there was a U-shaped relation between serum 25(OH)D and risk of SGA among white mothers, with the lowest risk from 60 to 80 nmol/L. Compared with serum 25(OH)D 37.5-75 nmol/L, SGA odds ratios (95% CI) for levels <37.5 and >75 nmol/L were 7.5 (1.8, 31.9) and 2.1 (1.2, 3.8), respectively. There was no relation between 25(OH)D and SGA risk among black mothers. One SNP in the VDR gene among white women and 3 SNP in black women were significantly associated with SGA. Our results suggest that vitamin D has a complex relation with fetal growth that may vary by race.