ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Ginecologica 2010 April;62(2):91-6

Copyright © 2010 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Vitamin D at term of pregnancy and during lactation in white and black women living in Northern Italy

Gaggero M. ¹, Mariani L. ², Guarino R. ³, Patrucco G. ⁴, Ballardini G. ¹, Boscardini L. ¹, Barbaglia M. ¹, Bello L. ², Guala A. ¹

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Castelli Hospital, Verbania, Italy; ² Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Castelli Hospital, Verbania, Italy; ³ Department of Pediatrics, Hospital of Taormina, Messina, Italy; ⁴ Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry and Clinical Analysis, S. Andrea Hospital, Vercelli, Italy

AIM: Evaluate the vitamin D serum status in a population of white and black mothers who live in the same geographic area of northern Italy (45° 8’ N of latitude) and its correlation with vitamin D serum concentrations of the respective newborns at birth, at 2 and 12 months.
METHODS: Twelve white woman-infant pairs and 12 black woman-infant pairs were recruited from January through March 2006. The study population had no pre-existing disease and delivered at term of pregnancy (37-41 weeks of gestational age). Only black infants were given vitamin D supplementation from birth to 1 year of age.
RESULTS: Eleven black and 12 white women had low vitamin D serum levels at term of pregnancy. Similarly, black and white newborns were both vitamin D deficient at birth. After 12 months white women re-gained phisiological vitamin D serum levels, whereas black women maintained a status of vitamin D deficiency. Black newborns who were given supplementation showed lower vitamin D serum concentrations as compared with white newborns at 1 year of age.
CONCLUSION: These data showed that all the women living in the same region of northern Italy without any supplementation are equally vitamin D deficient at term of pregnancy regardless of their skin pigmentation. Conse-quently, every woman should be supplied with additional vitamin D during pregnancy and lactation, though such supplementation seems to exert the most beneficial effects in black women.