Maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D is inversely correlated with foetal serotonin
Murthi P, Davies-Tuck M, Lappas M, Singh H, Mockler J, Rahman R, Lim R, Leaw B, Doery J, Wallace EM, Ebeling PR
Clinical endocrinology · 19 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cross-sectional study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People, plus animal or lab work
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- State Government of Victoria
- Government
- Medical Research Council
- Government
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- University or hospital
- Australian Institute of Musculoskeletal Science
- Grants
- National Health and Medical Research Council (1047025)
Based on 4 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2016-11-15 · Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) · vol. 86 · issue 3 · pp. 401–409
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Cited
- 26 citations · more than 88% of similar papers · 2.3× the field average
- References
- 52 works
- Access
- Free to read
- Research areas
- Vitamin D Research Studies · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum · Birth, Development, and Health
- Keywords
- Endocrinology, Serotonin, Internal medicine, Serotonergic, Vitamin D and neurology, Umbilical cord, Fetus, Calcitriol receptor, Medicine, Chemistry, Biology, Pregnancy, Receptor, Immunology
- MeSH
- cell line, fetal blood, humans, pregnancy complications, vitamin d deficiency, serotonin, vitamin d, mothers, pregnancy, maternal-fetal exchange, adult, infant, newborn, female, young adult, human umbilical vein endothelial cells
11 authors
From AU
- Padma MurthiHudson Institute of Medical Research; Monash University
- Miranda L. Davies-TuckHudson Institute of Medical Research; Monash University
- Martha LappasThe University of Melbourne; Mercy Hospital for Women; Austin Health
- Harmeet SinghHudson Institute of Medical Research
- Joanne C. MocklerHudson Institute of Medical Research; Monash University
- Rahana Abd RahmanHudson Institute of Medical Research; Monash University
Abstract
Objective
Maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy has been linked to impaired neurocognitive development in childhood. The mechanism by which vitamin D affects childhood neurocognition is unclear but may be via interactions with serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in foetal brain development. In this study, we aimed to explore associations between maternal and foetal vitamin D concentrations, and foetal serotonin concentrations at term.
Study design and measurements
Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D, nmol/l) and serotonin (5-HT, nmol/l) concentrations were measured in maternal and umbilical cord blood from mother-infant pairs (n = 64). Association between maternal 25(OH)D, cord 25(OH)D and cord serotonin was explored using linear regression, before and after adjusting for maternal serotonin levels. We also assessed the effects of siRNA knockdown of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and administration of 10 nm 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on serotonin secretion in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro.
Results
We observed an inverse relationship between both maternal and cord 25(OH)D concentrations with cord serotonin concentrations. The treatment of HUVECs with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in vitro decreased the release of serotonin (193·9 ±14·8 nmol/l vs 458·9 ± 317·5 nmol/l, control, P < 0·05). Conversely, inactivation of VDR increased serotonin release in cultured HUVECs.
Conclusions
These observations provide the first evidence of an inverse relationship between maternal 25(OH)D and foetal serotonin concentrations. We propose that maternal vitamin D deficiency increases foetal serotonin concentrations and thereby contributes to longer-term neurocognitive impairment in infants and children.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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