Preeclampsia of offspring cut in half if mother who smoked had vitamin D fortified margarine

Exposure to vitamin D from fortified margarine during fetal life and later risk of pre-eclampsia: the D-tect Study.

Public Health Nutr. 2017 Dec 20:1-11. doi: 10.1017/S1368980017003135. [Epub ahead of print]

Stougaard M1, Damm P2, Frederiksen P1, Jacobsen R1, Heitmann BL1.

• 1 Research Unit for Dietary Studies at Parker Institute and Department of Clinical Epidemiology,Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital,Nordre Fasanvej 57,Hovedvejen,Entranc 5,2000 Frederiksberg,Denmark.

• 2 Department of Obstetrics,Rigshospitalet,Copenhagen,Denmark.

OBJECTIVE:

To examine if fetal exposure to a small dosage of extra vitamin D from food fortification was associated with a decrease in the risk of pre-eclampsia later in life.

DESIGN:

Cancellation of the mandatory vitamin D fortification of margarine in 1985 created a societal experiment, with entire adjacent birth cohorts exposed or unexposed to extra vitamin D during fetal development. The Danish national medical health registries allowed the identification of pre-eclampsia cases later in life among all exposed and unexposed female individuals.

SETTING: Denmark.

SUBJECTS: Women born between June 1983 and August 1988, who gave birth to their first child at age 14·5-27·5 years (n 32 621).

RESULTS:

OR (95 % CI) for pre-eclampsia among women exposed v. unexposed to extra vitamin D from fortification during fetal development was 0·86 (0·76, 0·97). Exposure to extra vitamin D was associated with further reduced odds of pre-eclampsia (0·49 (0·34, 0·72)) among current smokers, but not among former smokers and non-smokers.

CONCLUSIONS:

Additional vitamin D in fetal life from food fortification seems to reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia later in life. The risk reduction may be particularly strong among women who smoke during pregnancy.

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PMID: 29258625 DOI: 10.1017/S1368980017003135