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RXRA gene activity at birth weakly associated with bone density at age 4 – Aug 2013

Clipped from News Release

We are now testing whether mothers should be supplemented with vitamin D in pregnancy in a randomised controlled trial, the MAVIDOS Maternal Vitamin D Osteoporosis Study, which will report early next year."

Abstract of study

Maternal vitamin D deficiency has been associated with reduced offspring bone mineral accrual. Retinoid-X Receptor-alpha (RXRA) is an essential cofactor in the action of 1,25(OH)2-vitamin D, and RXRA methylation in umbilical cord DNA has been associated with later offspring adiposity. We tested the hypothesis that RXRA methylation in umbilical cord DNA collected at birth is associated with offspring skeletal development, assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, in a population-based mother-offspring cohort (Southampton Women's Survey). Relationships between maternal plasma 25(OH)-vitamin D concentrations and cord RXRA methylation were also investigated.

In 230 children aged 4 years, higher % methylation at 4 out of 6 RXRA CpG sites measured was correlated with lower offspring BMC corrected for body size (β = − 2.1 to −3.4g/SD, p = 0.002 to 0.047). In a second independent cohort (n = 64), similar negative associations at two of these CpG sites, but positive associations at the two remaining sites, were observed; however none of the relationships in this replication cohort achieved statistical significance. Maternal free 25(OH)-vitamin D index was negatively associated with methylation at one of these RXRA CpG sites (β = − 3.3 SD/unit, p = 0.03). Thus, perinatal epigenetic marking at the RXRA promoter region in umbilical cord was inversely associated with offspring size-corrected bone mineral content in childhood. The potential mechanistic and functional significance of this finding remains a subject for further investigation.


Note by Vitamin D Life
The effect of RXRA did not have statistical significance in this study, but the vitamin D levels of the mother did.

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