Maternal/neonatal vitamin D deficiency: a new risk factor for necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants?

Objective:the objective of the study was to investigate the possible association between maternal/neonatal 25-hydroxy vitamin d (25-ohd) levels and development of necrotizing enterocolitis (nec).study design:one hundred and forty-five preterm infants ⩽36 weeks of gestation were enrolled. 25-ohd levels were determined in maternal/neonatal blood samples that were obtained at the time of admission to the neonatal intensive care unit.results:of the 145 enrolled patients, 26 (18%) developed nec. maternal/neonatal 25-ohd levels in the nec group were significantly lower than those of the no-nec group (p=0.001 and 0.004, respectively). in univariate logistic regression analysis, both maternal/neonatal vitamin d levels were a significant predictor of nec (odds ratio (or): 0.92 and 0.89; p<0.001 and p<0.005, respectively). however, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that only maternal vitamin d level was a significant predictor of nec (or: 0.86, p<0.0009).conclusion:this is the first study to propose a possible association between maternal/neonatal 25-ohd levels and subsequent development of nec in preterm infants.