Min-Jung Wang1, Erin C Dunn2, Olivia I Okereke3, Peter Kraft4, Yiwen Zhu5, Jordan W Smoller6. 1. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: mjwang@mail.harvard.edu. 2. Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA; Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. 3. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. 4. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. 5. Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. 6. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Low maternal vitamin D levels [serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D)] during pregnancy have been linked to offspring neuropsychiatric outcomes such as schizophrenia and autism, but studies on depression are lacking. We examined the association between maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and offspring depression during childhood and adolescence and investigated whether any associations were modified by offspring genetic risk for depression. METHODS: Mother-singleton birth offspring pairs in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) that had maternal 25(OH)D measurements, offspring genetic data, and offspring depression measures collected in childhood (mean age=10.6 years; n = 2938) and/or adolescence (mean age=13.8 years; n = 2485) were included in the analyses. Using multivariable logistic regression, we assessed associations between maternal vitamin D status and offspring polygenic risk score (PRS) for depression on childhood/adolescent depression risk. RESULTS: There was no evidence for an association between maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and offspring depression in childhood (p = 0.72) or adolescence (p = 0.07). Offspring depression PRS were independently associated with childhood depression (p = 0.003), but did not interact with maternal vitamin D status. These results were robust to adjustments for potential confounders and different cut-offs for vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency. LIMITATIONS: 25(OH)D measurements were only available at a single time point during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy does not affect an offspring's risk for early life depression.
BACKGROUND: Low maternal vitamin D levels [serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D)] during pregnancy have been linked to offspring neuropsychiatric outcomes such as schizophrenia and autism, but studies on depression are lacking. We examined the association between maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and offspring depression during childhood and adolescence and investigated whether any associations were modified by offspring genetic risk for depression. METHODS: Mother-singleton birth offspring pairs in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) that had maternal 25(OH)D measurements, offspring genetic data, and offspring depression measures collected in childhood (mean age=10.6 years; n = 2938) and/or adolescence (mean age=13.8 years; n = 2485) were included in the analyses. Using multivariable logistic regression, we assessed associations between maternal vitamin D status and offspring polygenic risk score (PRS) for depression on childhood/adolescent depression risk. RESULTS: There was no evidence for an association between maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and offspring depression in childhood (p = 0.72) or adolescence (p = 0.07). Offspring depression PRS were independently associated with childhood depression (p = 0.003), but did not interact with maternal vitamin D status. These results were robust to adjustments for potential confounders and different cut-offs for vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency. LIMITATIONS: 25(OH)D measurements were only available at a single time point during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy does not affect an offspring's risk for early life depression.
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