Calcitriol Effect on Outcomes of in Vitro Fertilization in Infertile Women with Vitamin D Deficiency: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Introduction Recent studies have addressed the role of micronutrients in fertilization, such as vitamin D. The present study aims to explore the effects of using calcitriol, an active form of vitamin D, on IVF results in women with vitamin D deficiency. Method This double-blinded randomized clinical trial was done on 180 infertile women, undergone IVF treatment. Out of them, 95 were found to have vitamin D deficiency (blood serum 25-dihydroxy vitamin D <30 ng/ml). Fifty one women in experimental group were treated with two 0.25 µg calcitriol pills daily during 4 weeks (discontinued 8 hours prior to the embryo transfer) and 44 subjects to the placebo group (mean vitamin D deficiency 27.5 ±1.8 in case group vs. 27.6±1.8 in control group, P>0.05). Final analysis includes outcomes of chemical and clinical pregnancy was done on 74 women (including 36 in case and 38 in control group). Results Our study showed that in the experimental group, chemical pregnancy success was significantly higher than that in the control group, 31.4 vs. 18.2% (P<0.05). However, there were no significant differences between the 2 groups in reaching the clinical pregnancy stage (25.5% in case group vs. 13.6% in control group) and continuation of pregnancy into week 20 (9.8% in case group vs. 11.6% in control group) (P>0.05). Conclusion Calcitriol administration by improving the implantation process can significantly increase the chances of successful IVF cycle results in infertile women with vitamin D deficiency.

Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on In Vitro Fertilization Outcomes: A Trial Sequential Meta-Analysis of 5 Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Among enrolled 5 eligible studies, 3 studies ( 27 , 28 , 30 ) were performed in Iran and another 2 studies ( 29 , 31 ) were performed in Italy. The publication time of individual study ranged from 2014 to 2021.…”

“…The publication time of individual study ranged from 2014 to 2021. Most eligible studies ( 27 – 30 ) enrolled inadequate sample size with a median number of 92, apart from 1 study performed by Somigliana et al. ( 31 ), in which 573 patients were included in the final analysis.…”

“…Agreeably, some randomized controlled trials (RCTs) ( 27 – 31 ) have also been performed to demonstrate the role of vitamin D in reproduction. Unfortunately, however, most of the published RCTs ( 27 – 30 ) were interventional studies with small sample size, which were underpowered to draw a definitive conclusion. We therefore performed this meta-analysis to demonstrate the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation on IVF outcomes through collecting all potentially relevant studies.…”

Impact of vitamin D3 supplementation on the in vitro growth of mouse preantral follicles

“…Furthermore, no association of serum 25OHD levels with IVF outcomes, in terms of the clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate, has yet been reported [ 22 , 23 ]. Moreover, intake of calcitriol (an active form of VD) did not enhance the clinical pregnancy rate of IVF in women with 25OHD deficiency [ 24 ]. Therefore, there is no consensus on whether serum 25OHD levels are related to the IVF pregnancy rate, or whether VD supplementation could improve the IVF pregnancy rate in women with 25OHD deficiency.…”

The effect of date palm on sexual function in infertile couples: a double-blind controlled clinical trial

“…Fifteen percent of women of childbearing age are infertile [ 3 ]. It is estimated that 10% of population, 13% of women, 10% of men, and 15% of couples around the world to be infertile [ 4 , 5 ]. Results of a meta-analysis study in Iran revealed that the prevalence of lifetime primary infertility, current primary infertility, and current secondary infertility is 13.96%, 3.09%, and 2.18%, respectively [ 6 ].…”