Maternal vitamin D status and spontaneous preterm birth by placental histology in the US Collaborative Perinatal Project.

The objective of this study was to determine the association between maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and the risk of spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) before 35 weeks' gestation. A random subcohort from the US Collaborative Perinatal Project (1959-1965) was sampled (n = 2,629) and augmented with all remaining cases of sPTB before 35 weeks' gestation for a total of 767 cases. Banked serum samples collected at 26 weeks' gestation or earlier were assayed for 25(OH)D. Constructs for vascular histology and inflammatory histology were developed from placental pathology examinations. There was no relationship between 25(OH)D and sPTB among white women. Among nonwhite mothers, serum 25(OH)D levels of 30-<50, 50-<75, and ≥75 nmol/L were associated with reductions of 1.0-1.6 cases of sPTB per 100 live births and 20%-30% reductions in risk of sPTB compared with 25(OH)D levels less than 30 nmol/L after adjustment for prepregnancy body mass index (weight (kg)/height (m)(2)), season, and other confounders. This association was driven by inflammation-mediated cases of sPTB and sPTB cases without placental lesions. A sensitivity analysis for unmeasured confounding by exercise, fish intake, and skin color suggested some bias away from the null in the conventional results, but conclusions were generally supported. The vitamin D-sPTB relationship should be examined in modern cohorts with detailed data on skin pigmentation and other covariates.