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Racial variation in vitamin D cord blood concentration in white and black male neonates

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Abstract

Aim

The aim of this study is to evaluate racial variation in umbilical cord blood concentration of vitamin D and to explore its correlation with markers of the insulin-like growth factor axis (IGFs) and sex steroid hormones in white and black male neonates.

Methods

In 2004–2005, venous umbilical cord blood samples were collected from 75 black and 38 white male neonates, along with maternal and birth characteristics from two hospitals in Maryland, United States. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D] were measured by radioimmunoassay and testosterone, estradiol, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) by immunoassay and IGF-1, IGF-2, and IGF-binding protein-3 by ELISA. Crude and multivariable-adjusted geometric mean concentrations were computed.

Results

Mean 25(OH)D levels were lower in black than in white neonates (11.44; 95 % CI 10.10–12.95 ng/mL vs. 18.24; 95 % CI 15.32–21.72 ng/mL; p < 0.0001). Black neonates were at higher risk of suboptimal vitamin D levels [25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL] than whites (84 vs. 63 %). 25(OH)D concentrations varied by season in whites but not in blacks and were significantly inversely correlated with mother’s parity (number of live births) in blacks but not in whites. Mean concentration of 1,25(OH)2D did not differ by race. 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)2D did not correlate with IGFs, sex steroid hormones, and SHBG.

Conclusions

Suboptimal vitamin D levels were prevalent especially in blacks and influenced by mother’s parity and by season. The observed vitamin D differences between black and white neonates warrant further evaluation of the etiology of the disparity in chronic diseases in adulthood.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Stacey Meyerer, laboratory manager, at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, for her assistance in the conduct of this study. The study has been supported by ISFE (Internationale Stiftung zur Förderung der Ernährungsforschung und Ernährungsaufklärung). This study was also supported by a National Cancer Institute U54 grant (Hopkins CA091409) and U54 (Howard CA091431). The content of this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health.

Conflicts of interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zürich, Switzerland

    Monika Eichholzer, Aline Barbir & Sabine Rohrmann

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Elizabeth A. Platz

  3. Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Elizabeth A. Platz

  4. James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Elizabeth A. Platz

  5. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jessica L. Bienstock

  6. Division of Allied Health Sciences, Department of Nutritional Sciences, College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA

    Deborah Monsegue

  7. Howard University Human Genome Center, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA

    Folasade Akereyeni

  8. Division of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Bruce W. Hollis

  9. Heartland Assays LLC, Ames, IA, USA

    Ronald Horst

  10. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Nader Rifai

  11. Department of Medicine and Oncology, Jewish General Hospital and McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Michael N. Pollak

  12. Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Tanya Agurs-Collins

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  1. Monika Eichholzer
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  2. Elizabeth A. Platz
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  9. Michael N. Pollak
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Correspondence to Monika Eichholzer.

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Eichholzer, M., Platz, E.A., Bienstock, J.L. et al. Racial variation in vitamin D cord blood concentration in white and black male neonates. Cancer Causes Control 24, 91–98 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-012-0093-9

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