Maternal circulating Vitamin D3 levels during pregnancy and behaviour across childhood

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency during critical periods of development could lead to persistent brain alterations. We aimed to assess the association between maternal vitamin D3, the major circulatory form of vitamin D, at pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes during childhood, namely: behavioural problems, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms, and social competence. This study included 2,107 mother-child pairs of a Spanish population-based birth cohort. Maternal plasma vitamin D3 was measured in pregnancy. The outcomes were measured through questionnaires at 5, 8, 14, and 18 years old. We ran multivariate regression models adjusted for potential confounding variables. We found that per each 10 ng/mL increment of maternal vitamin D3, children obtained higher social competence scores (coefficient = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.19, 1.35) at 5 years old. However, we observed null associations between maternal vitamin D3 and total behavioural problems and ADHD and ASD symptoms in children from 5 to 18 years old. Further studies carried out in countries where the population is exposed to lower vitamin D levels are needed.