Cord blood vitamin A and vitamin D levels in relation to physical growth in exclusively breastfed infants aged 0-6 months

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024 Jul 26:15:1394408. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1394408. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Background: Vitamins A and D are essential for the health of pregnant women and infants. Nevertheless, the relationship between umbilical cord blood vitamins A and D levels and the physical growth of exclusively breastfed infants remains uncertain.

Objective: This cohort study aims to examine the relationship between cord blood vitamins A and D levels and the physical growth of exclusively breastfed infants aged 0-6 months.

Methods: 140 singleton mother-infant pairs were recruited in total. Questionnaires were used to collect maternal and infant information, and liquid chromatography was utilized to quantify the levels of vitamins A and D in the umbilical cord blood. Anthropometric measurements were conducted at birth, at 3 and 6 months of age, and the weight-for-age z-score (WAZ), length-for-age z-score (LAZ), head circumference-for-age z-score (HAZ), and BMI-for-age z-score (BMIZ) were calculated. Univariate and multivariate linear regression models were used for the analysis.

Results: The average concentration of vitamins A and D in cord blood was 0.58 ± 0.20 μmol/L and 34.07 ± 13.35 nmol/L, both below the normal range for children. After adjusting for confounding factors, vitamin A levels in cord blood positively correlated with HAZ growth in infants aged 3-6 months (β= 0.75, P < 0.01) while vitamin D levels negatively correlated with LAZ growth (β= -0.01, P = 0.01) and positively correlated with BMIZ growth (β= 0.02, P < 0.01).

Conclusion: Higher Vitamin A levels at birth promote HAZ growth in infants aged 3-6 months while higher vitamin D levels at birth promote BMIZ growth in infants aged 3-6 months.

Clinical trial registration: https://register.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT04017286.

Keywords: exclusive breastfeeding; infants; physical growth; umbilical cord blood; vitamin A; vitamin D.

Publication types

  • Observational Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Breast Feeding*
  • Child Development* / physiology
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Fetal Blood* / chemistry
  • Fetal Blood* / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Vitamin A* / blood
  • Vitamin D* / blood

Substances

  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin D

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04017286

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders (NCRCCHD-2020-GP-11), and grant from the Scientific Research Projects of Chongqing (2019QNXM035 and cstc2018jscx-mszdX0023).