RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Vitamin C to pregnant smokers persistently improves infant airway function to 12 months of age: a randomised trial
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP 1902208
DO 10.1183/13993003.02208-2019
VO 56
IS 6
A1 Cindy T. McEvoy
A1 Lyndsey E. Shorey-Kendrick
A1 Kristin Milner
A1 Diane Schilling
A1 Christina Tiller
A1 Brittany Vuylsteke
A1 Ashley Scherman
A1 Keith Jackson
A1 David M. Haas
A1 Julia Harris
A1 Byung S. Park
A1 Annette Vu
A1 Dale F. Kraemer
A1 David Gonzales
A1 Carol Bunten
A1 Eliot R. Spindel
A1 Cynthia D. Morris
A1 Robert S. Tepper
YR 2020
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/6/1902208.abstract
AB Background Vitamin C (500 mg·day−1) supplementation for pregnant smokers has been reported to increase newborn pulmonary function and infant forced expiratory flows (FEFs) at 3 months of age. Its effect on airway function through 12 months of age has not been reported.Objective To assess whether vitamin C supplementation to pregnant smokers is associated with a sustained increased airway function in their infants through 12 months of age.Methods This is a pre-specified secondary outcome of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that randomised 251 pregnant smokers between 13 and 23 weeks of gestation: 125 to 500 mg·day−1 vitamin C and 126 to placebo. Smoking cessation counselling was provided. FEFs performed at 3 and 12 months of age were analysed by repeated-measures analysis of covariance.Results FEFs were performed in 222 infants at 3 months and 202 infants at 12 months of age. The infants allocated to vitamin C had significantly increased FEFs over the first year of life compared to those allocated to placebo. The overall increased flows were 40.2 mL·s−1 for at FEF75 (75% of forced vital capacity (FVC)) (adjusted 95% CI for difference 6.6–73.8; p=0.025); 58.3 mL·s−1 for FEF50 (10.9–105.8; p=0.0081); and 55.1 mL·s−1 for FEF25–75 (9.7–100.5; p=0.013).Conclusions In offspring of pregnant smokers randomised to vitamin C versus placebo, vitamin C during pregnancy was associated with a small but significantly increased airway function at 3 and 12 months of age, suggesting a potential shift to a higher airway function trajectory curve. Continued follow-up is underway.Vitamin C supplementation coupled with smoking cessation counselling for pregnant smokers may be a safe, inexpensive, and simple intervention to improve the airway function of their offspring through 12 months of age https://bit.ly/3fa8q2X