Serum 25(OH) Vitamin D Levels in Polish Women during Pregnancies Complicated by Hypertensive Disorders and Gestational Diabetes

Abstract

Background: An association between the level of vitamin D and the risk of pregnancy-related complications remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine concentrations of 25(OH) vitamin D in Polish women with normal pregnancies and pregnancies complicated by gestational hypertension, preeclampsia or gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Moreover, we analyzed an association between maternal serum 25(OH)D and the risk of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and GDM. Material and Methods: The study included 207 pregnant women, among them 171 with pregnancy-related complications: gestational hypertension (n = 45), preeclampsia (n = 23) or GDM (n = 103). The control group consisted of 36 women with normal pregnancies. Concentrations of serum 25(OH)D were measured at admission to the hospital prior to delivery Results: Patients with hypertension did not differ significantly from the controls in terms of their serum 25(OH)D concentrations (18.20 vs. 22.10 ng/mL, p = 0.15). Highly significant differences were found in 25(OH)D concentrations of women with preeclampsia and the controls (14.75 vs. 22.10 ng/mL, p = 0.0021). GDM was not associated with significant differences in 25(OH)D concentration. A low level of 25(OH)D turned out to be associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia during pregnancy on both univariate and multivariate regression analysis, and was a significant predictor of this condition on ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis (AUC = 0.70, p < 0.01). Conclusions: 25(OH)D deficiency is common among pregnant Polish women. Low concentrations of 25(OH)D may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of preeclampsia. Routine assessment of the 25(OH)D level during pregnancy may be crucial for the identification of women at increased risk of preeclampsia.

Vitamin D Concentration in Maternal and Umbilical Cord Blood by Season

“…Nevertheless, the patients were asked to estimate only the amount of time they spent outside in the summer between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., which does not provide direct information about the exact duration of exposure to sun. Our results are consistent with the findings of other authors, who have also confirmed vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women in Poland [ 3 , 5 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], although reports in the Polish literature on better vitamin D saturation in the summer are less unambiguous. In that respect, our results are in agreement with the study by Skowrońska-Jóźwiak et al and Zasimovich et al who also confirmed season-dependent variability in vitamin D levels, with the highest values in summer and the lowest in winter [ 3 , 17 ].…”

The prevalence and clinical associations of hypovitaminosis D in pregnant women from Brazil

“…The present sample had a high prevalence of this adverse event because the study was carried out at tertiary hospitals, where patients with a more severe diseases are referred. The association between a low vitamin D level and eclampsia/pre‐eclampsia could be attributable to the fact that vitamin D regulates the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and pro‐inflammatory cytokines; if the vitamin D level is low, the concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor will also be low and the levels of pro‐inflammatory cytokines will be high . Levels of adiponectin have been identified as positively associated with higher levels of vitamin D in pregnancy, although the mechanism remains unclear …”

Evaluation of vitamin D levels in term pregnancy and its obstetric outcome in Indian women

“…But 25(OH)D was not identified as a significant predictor of GDM in this study, which was consistent with this study. 7 In Mirzakhani et al, study women who had sufficient vitamin D levels (≥ 30 ng/ml) in early and late pregnancy had a significantly lower rate of preeclampsia compared with women with insufficient vitamin D levels (P = 0.04). This was not comparable to this results.…”