Smoking Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Smoking, including details on cigarettes, cancer, lung, tar, nicotine.

Maternal smoking and the vitamin D-parathyroid hormone system during the perinatal period.

Díaz-Gómez NM, Mendoza C, González-González NL, Barroso F, Jiménez-Sosa A, Domenech E, Clemente I, Barrios Y, Moya M

Research Unit, University Hospital of the Canaries, University of La Laguna, Canary Island, Spain. nmdiaz@ull.es

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of smoking on the vitamin D-parathyroid hormone (PTH) system during the perinatal period. STUDY DESIGN: Sixty-one healthy women with singleton pregnancies and their newborns participated in a cohort study. We compared serum PTH and BsmI polymorphism of the vitamin D receptor gene, 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D, calcium, phosphorus, and bone alkaline phosphatase (bALP) in a smoking group (n = 32) versus a non-smoking group (n = 29), controlling for lifestyle confounders. The mothers were examined at 30 to 32 weeks and 38 to 40 weeks of pregnancy, and the infants were examined at 2 to 3 days of postnatal life. RESULTS: Mothers who smoked and their newborns showed decreased serum PTH (30-32 weeks, 26.9 +/- 10.7 pg/mL versus 37.1+/-19.5 pg/mL; 38-40 weeks, 32.2 +/- 13.5 pg/mL versus 46.2 +/- 21.9 pg/mL, P = .005; newborns, 43.4 +/- 21.8 versus 64.1 +/- 34.2 pg/mL, P = .02) and increased phosphorus. Newborns of mothers who smoked also had significantly lower anthropometric measurements and serum 25(OH)D (14.2 +/- 6.2 ng/mL versus 22.3 +/- 11.3 ng/mL, P = .009). In addition, pregnant women who smoked had lower bALP (30-32 weeks, 31 +/- 15 U/L versus 44+/-29 U/L; 38-40 weeks, 55 +/- 32 U/L versus 97 +/- 62 U/L, P = .005). CONCLUSIONS: Smoking during pregnancy negatively influences calcium-regulating hormones, leading to relative hypoparathyroidism in both the mother and their newborns.

Published 23 November 2007 in J Pediatr, 151(6): 618-23.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2006-2008 Smoking Research Today. All Rights Reserved.