MUSC Vitamin D project aims to improve pregnancy outcomes
July 9, 2012
Researchers seek to improve immune system function and change public policy
CHARLESTON,SC – July 5, 2012 – Physician researchers, who have struggled withpreventing vitamin D deficiency and subsequent health effects in somepregnant women, will now have an opportunity to explore how to eliminatethose deficiencies. Thanks to a $3 million grant from the W.K. KelloggFoundation of Battle Creek, Mich., the Medical University of SouthCarolina (MUSC) Children’s Hospital faculty researchers will learn moreabout vitamin D’s effect on maternal health and fetal development duringpregnancy and in so doing, develop public policy recommendations aboutvitamin D supplementation.
Currently,the U.S. presents a large racial disparity in vitamin D status. Comparedto white women, black women have a 20-fold greater risk of deficiencyand Hispanic women a 2.4-fold greater risk of deficiency. In SouthCarolina, MUSC Children’s Hospital researchers have already discoveredthat the situation is more pronounced with approximately 70% of blackwomen, 33% of Hispanic women and 12% of white pregnant women meeting theInstitute of Medicine’s 2010 definition of vitamin D deficiency.
Accordingto their recent research, vitamin D deficiencies are on the rise acrossall ethnicities, but particularly in pregnant, non-white women. Suchdisparity on the basis of race represents a serious public healthissue, said Carol Wagner, M.D., MUSC Children’s Hospital neonatologistand project director. This project will generate supportive data forsupplementing all pregnant women with vitamin D at doses that enhanceimmune balance and regulation.
Withthe knowledge that Wagner and her colleagues expect to gain from thisresearch, she anticipates not only learning more about vitamin D’s rolein a mother’s immune system and problems created by deficiency, but alsohow deficiency might influence other poor pregnancy outcomes. Thefunding for the project couldn’t come at a better time.
Weare so thrilled to have this research funding for Dr. Wagner becausethis work will increase our understanding of how the vitamin D a mothertakes in during pregnancy affects the well-being of her baby. It offers apotentially easy intervention to improve things such as infection ofthe fetus and mother, and also premature delivery. Both of these areproblems that can cause later abnormalities in the infant’s braindevelopment so treatment with vitamin D could have a really importanteffect on later neurologic impairment in children, said Rita Ryan,M.D., MUSC Children’s Hospital Department of Pediatrics chair.
Wagnerenvisions the findings in the study enhancing pregnant women’s andhealth care providers’ knowledge of vitamin D deficiency and itseffects, as well as offering the incentive needed to form thepartnerships with policy makers at the local, state and federal levelsneeded to change disparate pregnancy outcomes in South Carolina andbeyond.
By focusing on immune systemimbalance associated with vitamin D deficiency, we expect to showimprovement in various pregnancy outcomes, Wagner said. By the end ofthe study, we plan to be able to advise pregnant women on the optimalvitamin D intake during pregnancy, benefiting the health of mother andbaby. I look forward to reducing this growing disparity that has plaguedus for decades.
About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
TheW.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent,private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, isamong the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guidedby the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity tothrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerablechildren so they can realize their full potential in school, work andlife. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.
About MUSC Children’s Hospital
MUSCChildren’s Hospital is one of the largest and most comprehensivepediatric medical centers in the Southeastern United States. ThreeNeonatal Nurseries provide Level II and Level III care for pre-matureand newborn term infants. Using a family-centered approach, familiesare not considered visitors, rather essential participants in care anddecisions that affect the total healing of the child. Mother-babycouplet nursing is the primary model of care for the obstetricalpatient. Our extensive network of caring professionals, entirelydevoted to the health and well-being of children, are driven by acommitment to adaptability and outcome accountability. Respect,dignity, information sharing, participation and collaboration are at thecore of our culture. As a result, MUSC Children’s Hospital has earnedtop rankings from Child magazine and American Health Magazine. In 2010,U.S. News & World Report ranked our pediatric heart program amongthe top 20 and our pediatric gastroenterology program among the top 50in America. For more information about MUSC Children’s Hospital, visit www.musckids.com or www.muschealth.com, or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MUSCKids.
