Brittany Fellows & Amrita Samra September 12, 2013 NFSC 440 Part 1: Step 1: Topic/ Question/ One

reference Topic: The article we located was titled, Maternal Serum Levels of 25-Hydroxy-Vitamin D During Pregnancy and Risk of Type 1 Diabetes in the Offspring. The research question for this article was, We aimed to test whether lower maternal serum concentration of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OH D) during pregnancy were associated with an increased risk of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease commonly diagnosed in children. The cause of type 1 diabetes is still unknown. However, there has been interest in the immunomodulating actions of Vitamin D. Vitamin D has a variety of functions, including immunity. The study was a cohort study of 29,072 women. The reported findings were there was a higher risk of type 1 diabetes with lower levels of vitamin D during pregnancy. The odds of type 1 diabetes was more than two folds higher for the offspring of women with lowest levels of 25-OH D. Another interesting fact in the article was, The fact that the highest incidence of type 1 diabetes (with some exceptions) exists in the northern part of the world, where sunshine hours are reduced for several months during the year, has been taken as support for the hypothesis that insufficient vitamin D status may increase the risk of type 1 diabetes. Research Question: What is the relationship between vitamin D levels during pregnancy and risk of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes? Reference: Sorensen, Ingvild M., Geir Joner, Pal A. Jenum, Anne Eskild, Peter A. Torjesen, and Lars C. Stene. "Maternal Serum Levels of 25-Hydroxy-Vitamin D During Pregnancy and Risk of Type 1 Diabetes in the Offspring." American Diabetes Association. Diabetes.diabetesjournals,org, 28 Nov. 2011. Web. 11 Sept. 2013. <http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/61/1/175.full.pdf html>.