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Antioxidant Consumption is Associated with Decreased Odds of Congenital Limb Deficiencies
Author(s) -
Pace Nelson D.,
Desrosiers Tania A.,
Carmichael Suzan L.,
Shaw Gary M.,
Olshan Andrew F.,
SiegaRiz Anna Maria
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.667
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3016
pISSN - 0269-5022
DOI - 10.1111/ppe.12403
Subject(s) - medicine , odds ratio , pregnancy , body mass index , vitamin e , antioxidant , genetics , biology , biochemistry , chemistry
Background Approximately 1 in 2000 infants is born with a limb deficiency in the US . Research has shown that women's periconceptional diet and use of vitamin supplements can affect risk of birth defects. We investigated whether maternal consumption of nutritional antioxidants was associated with occurrence of transverse limb deficiency ( TLD ) and longitudinal limb deficiencies ( LLD ). Methods We analysed case–control data from mothers and their singleton infants with TLD ( n = 566), LLD ( n = 339), or no malformation (controls; n = 9384) in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (1997–2009). Using a modified food frequency, we estimated usual pre‐pregnancy antioxidant consumption by total fruit and vegetable consumption (in grams) grouped into tertiles, and cumulative antioxidant score (ranging from 1 to 10) based on consumption of three antioxidants: beta‐carotene, lycopene, and lutein. We estimated odds ratios ( OR ) adjusted for maternal age, race/ethnicity, education, smoking, alcohol use, body mass index, and total energy. Results Compared to women in the lowest tertile of fruit and vegetable consumption, women in the highest tertile were less likely to have infants with TLD ( OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.57, 0.96) or LLD ( OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.59, 1.13). Compared to the lowest antioxidant consumption score of 1, those with the highest score of 10 had OR s of 0.68 (95% CI 0.48, 0.95) for TLD and 0.77 (95% CI 0.50, 1.17) for LLD . Conclusions Dietary intake of antioxidants was associated with reduced odds of limb deficiencies. These findings add further evidence for women's periconceptional diet reducing occurrence of some birth defects.