Vitamin D - roles in women's reproductive health?

Abstract

In the past few years a growing interest in vitamin D can be observed in the lay and biomedical literature due to findings demonstrating a low vitamin D status in the population. In addition to its importance for the regulation of calcium and phosphorus homeostasis recent epidemiologic studies have observed relationships between low vitamin D levels and multiple disease states. This secosteroid hormone also regulates the expression of a large number of genes in reproductive tissues implicating a role for vitamin D in female reproduction. In this report we summarize the recent evidence that vitamin D status influences female reproductive and pregnancy outcomes. Human and animal data suggest that low vitamin D status is associated with impaired fertility, endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome. Evidence from observational studies shows higher rates of preeclampsia, preterm birth, bacterial vaginosis and gestational diabetes in women with low vitamin D levels. However, confirmation of experimental observations establishing an association of vitamin D deficiency with adverse reproductive outcomes by high quality observational and large-scale randomized clinical trials is still lacking. The determination of optimal 25(OH)D3 levels in the reproductive period and the amount of vitamin D supplementation required to achieve those levels for the numerous actions of vitamin D throughout a woman's life would have important public health implications.

Polymorphic variants in vitamin D signaling pathway genes and the risk of endometriosis-associated infertility

“…Vitamin D regulates the expression of numerous genes, including genes associated with steroidogenesis of sex hormones in female reproductive tissues, which also extends to estradiol and progesterone (26,27). Previous studies on humans and animals demonstrated that low vitamin D levels are associated with reduced fertility, poor in vitro fertilization outcome, and polycystic ovary syndrome (27,28).…”

“…Previous studies on humans and animals demonstrated that low vitamin D levels are associated with reduced fertility, poor in vitro fertilization outcome, and polycystic ovary syndrome (27,28). In addition, the predicted plasma 25 (OH) D 3 levels have been observed to be inversely associated with endometriosis (27,11). The role of vitamin D in the development and progression of endometriosis has also been extensively investigated in animal models.…”

Role of sunshine vitamin “D” sufficiency in male and female infertility

“…11,12 Human and animal data suggests that low vitamin D status is associated with impaired infertility, endometriosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome. 13 Recent data on vitamin D provides new insights in the complex pathogenesis and treatment of infertility. Several animal and human studies suggests that vitamin D is involved in many functions of the reproductive system in both genders.…”

Vitamin D and biomarkers of sex steroid hormones are non-linearly and inversely related to all-cause mortality: results from NHANES III

“…Besides the well-known function of vitamin D in promoting in vitro bone mineralization and prevention of osteoporosis and bone fracture through intestinal calcium absorption [3,4], mounting evidence has linked hypovitaminosis D to musculoskeletal diseases [5], cancer [6], autoimmune diseases, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease [6,7] and all-cause mortality [5]. The main source of vitamin D is cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), synthesized in the skin by ultraviolet radiation [2]; pro-vitamin D3 (7-dehydrocholesterol) is converted to pre-vitamin D3, which isomerizes into cholecalciferol and is later converted to calcitriol (1,25(OH) 2 D 3 ) through a two-step enzymatic pathway involving liver 25-hydroxylase (CYP2R1) andkidney 1-α-hydroxylase (CYP27B1) [2,8,9]. Vitamin D status is assessed by measuring 25(OH)D 3 [8].…”

“…The main source of vitamin D is cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), synthesized in the skin by ultraviolet radiation [2]; pro-vitamin D3 (7-dehydrocholesterol) is converted to pre-vitamin D3, which isomerizes into cholecalciferol and is later converted to calcitriol (1,25(OH) 2 D 3 ) through a two-step enzymatic pathway involving liver 25-hydroxylase (CYP2R1) andkidney 1-α-hydroxylase (CYP27B1) [2,8,9]. Vitamin D status is assessed by measuring 25(OH)D 3 [8]. Currently, the Hormonal Studies [5,7].…”