Vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy at term: risk factors and pregnancy outcomes

Abstract

Background Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is a worldwide epidemic. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, its predictive factors and the association with pregnancy outcomes. Materials and methods This was a prospective observational study in a tertiary teaching hospital over 2-years' duration from August 2013 to August 2015. A total of 680 women who completed 37 weeks of pregnancy were recruited. Results Five hundred and seventy-five patients were enrolled in the final analysis for pregnancy outcomes (response rate of 84.6%). There were 71.7% patients who exhibited vitamin D deficiency, 21.0% vitamin D insufficiency and only 7.3% who had adequate levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-vit D) of more than 30 ng/mL. There was no statistically significant association between vitamin D status with maternal (parity, gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertension, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, preterm labor, antenatal infection, bacterial vaginosis and anemia) and neonatal outcomes (low birth weight baby and neonatal intensive care unit admission) among the three groups. Conclusion A high prevalence of low vitamin D level among pregnant women at term was seen in this study, however, there was no significant finding observed between vitamin D status and both maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Influence of vitamin D binding protein polymorphism, demographics and lifestyle factors on vitamin D status in healthy Malaysian pregnant women

“…Nonetheless, the studies reporting the association of these SNPs and vitamin D status were largely conducted in the non-pregnant population [19][20][21][22]. Also, previous studies examining the factors associated with VDD during pregnancy were restricted to the study of only environmental [15,23,24] or genetic factors alone [25][26][27][28].…”

“…The studies reported 90% and 72% VDD (25OHD < 50 nmol/L) among pregnant women at rst trimester [15] and delivery [24], respectively. However, the prevalence reported in the present study was higher compared to our previous study conducted among pregnant women from a private hospital in Kuala…”

“…The discrepancy could be due to the factors included in the present studies were different from previous ndings. For instance, the previous studies that examined the factors associated with maternal VDD have been restricted to the only environmental [15,23,24] or genetic variables alone [25][26][27][28]. Additionally, it is possible that changes in the metabolism of vitamin D, notably elevation of circulation vitamin D binding protein concentration, may change the association of GC SNP with vitamin D status.…”

The role of vitamin D in perinatology. An up-to-date review

“…It plays an important role in trophoblast invasion [46]. There are plenty of studies that prove its effects on placental implantation, angiogenesis and endothelial function, immune function, inflammatory response during pregnancy, oxidative stress, and glucose homeostasis [47][48][49][50][51][52][53]. According to Hollis and Wagner, vitamin D plays an important role in embryo and fetal skeletal development [54].…”

Influence of vitamin D binding protein polymorphism, demographics and lifestyle factors on vitamin D status of healthy Malaysian pregnant women

“…Nonetheless, the studies related the association of the SNPs and vitamin D status were largely conducted for the non-pregnant women [19][20][21][22]. Also, previous studies focused on the factors associated with VDD during pregnancy were restricted to the study of only environmental [15,23,24] or genetic factors only [25][26][27][28].…”