{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T05:11:10Z","timestamp":1777957870737,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":65,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777939200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Endocrinol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Gastroschisis is a right\u2212sided, full\u2212thickness defect with extra-amnionic herniation of abdominal contents directly into the amniotic cavity. The causes of gastroschisis remain obscure. We hypothesized that limited periconceptional sunlight exposure might lead to insufficient vitamin D during fetal development and play a role in gastroschisis etiology.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted a population-based cohort study of infants conceived in Canada between April 2006 and March 2020. We used winter months (i.e., November and December) and northern geographic latitudes as indicators of insufficient sunlight exposure, while summer months (July and August) and southern geographic latitudes were considered as reference. We examined the association of conception month and geographic region with infant gastroschisis using log-binomial regression with a Poisson distribution.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Prevalence of gastroschisis varied substantially by month of conception. The rate of gastroschisis for infants conceived in winter months (4.6 per 10 000) was higher than infants conceived in summer months (2.7 per 10 000; p&amp;lt;0.001), yielding an adjusted rate ratio (aRR) of 1.73 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.39-2.16]. Gastroschisis prevalence increased from 2.9 per 10000 in the lowest latitude (South) to 10.8 in the highest latitude (far North) (aRR 1.89, 95% CI 1.34-2.67). Multivariate regression model showed that seasonal variations in gastroschisis risk varied with rural vs urban residence (aRR 0.68, 95% CI 0.46-0.99; p&amp;lt;0.05).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our findings indicate that periconceptional exposure to sunlight may protect against gastroschisis in offspring. Some literature inconsistencies about hypovitaminosis D and gastroschisis are clarified by interpreting associations as a non-monotonic (inverted U-shaped) relationship between maternal vitamin D status and the risk of gastroschisis. Further studies are warranted to identify biological mechanisms linking hypovitaminosis D with gastroschisis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2026.1816093","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T04:16:53Z","timestamp":1777954613000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Seasonal and geographic patterns of gastroschisis in Canada: protective effect of periconceptional sunlight exposure"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Shiliang","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Behaviours and Environments Division, Centre for Surveillance and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada","place":["Ottawa, ON, Canada"]},{"name":"School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa","place":["Ottawa, ON, Canada"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shin Jie","family":"Yong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sir Jeffrey Cheah Sunway Medical School, Faculty of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Sunway City","place":["Selangor, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dunjin","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University","place":["Guangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gavin C.","family":"Hughes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eastern Virgina Medical School, Old Dominion University","place":["Norfolk, VA, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Claude L.","family":"Hughes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University Medical Center","place":["Durham, NC, United States"]},{"name":"Reproductive Health Center of Excellence, IQVIA","place":["Durham, NC, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ajmg.c.30181","article-title":"Gastroschisis: international epidemiology and public health perspectives","author":"Castilla","year":"2008","journal-title":"Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ajmg.a.31578","article-title":"Development of gastroschisis: review of hypotheses, a novel hypothesis, and implications for research","volume":"143","author":"Feldkamp","year":"2007","journal-title":"Am J Med Genet Part A"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ajmg.1320580218","article-title":"Omphalocele and gastroschisis in Europe: a survey of 3 million births 1980-1990","volume":"58","author":"Calzolari","year":"1995","journal-title":"Am J Med Genet"},{"key":"B4","article-title":"Congenital anterior abdominal wall defects - rate of abdominal wall defects is higher in Scotland than in England and Wales","volume":"314","author":"Chalmers","year":"1997","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.317.7166.1118","article-title":"Prevalence of congenital anterior abdominal wall defects in the United Kingdom: comparison of regional registers","volume":"317","author":"Stone","year":"1998","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1016\/j.annepidem.2014.10.001","article-title":"Spatial analysis of gastroschisis in Massachusetts and Texas","volume":"25","author":"Yazdy","year":"2015","journal-title":"Ann Epidemiol"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00383-010-2701-7","article-title":"Clinical risk factors for gastroschisis and omphalocele in humans: a review of the literature","volume":"26","author":"Frolov","year":"2010","journal-title":"Pediatr Surg Int"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"199","DOI":"10.1002\/ajmg.c.30175","article-title":"Non-genetic risk factors for gastroschisis","author":"Rasmussen","year":"2008","journal-title":"Am J Med Genet Part C Semin Med Genet"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dys092","article-title":"The role of maternal nutrition in the aetiology of gastroschisis: an incident case-control study","volume":"41","author":"Paranjothy","year":"2012","journal-title":"Int J Epidemiol"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/ppe.12800","article-title":"Time trends, geographic variation and risk factors for gastroschisis in Canada. 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