Low Level of Vitamin D is a Risk Factor for the Occurrence of Early and Late Onset Pre-Eclampsia in Pregnant Women.

Abstract

This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) level and the occurrence of pre-eclampsia (PE) and also the risk factors of developing early and late onset PE. A total of 370 pregnant women were included between January 2015 and December 2016 at our hospital. PE was defined as the presence of maternal blood pressure > 140/90 mmHg and 24-hour proteinuria levels > 300 mg or 2 + in a random sample of urine after the 20th week of pregnancy. Controls were pregnant women without hypertension and proteinuria. Assessment of 25(OH)D was performed at 16 - 20 weeks of gestation. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the association of vitamin D with PE. There were 201 patients with PE while 169 pregnant women were controls. Patients with PE had older maternal age (p < 0.001), earlier gestation age (p < 0.001), and higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (p < 0.001). The level of 25(OH)D in the PE group (17.26 ± 13.95 µg/L) was significantly lower than that in controls (22.15 ± 12.65 µg/L, p = 0.019). Moreover, the proportion of 25(OH)D deficiency in patients with PE was significantly higher than that of controls (27.6% vs. 0.9%, p < 0.001). Older age, high SBP, and low level of 25(OH)D were independent risk factors of both early and late onset PE during pregnancy. Low 25(OH)D level was more likely presented in PE patients and was an independent risk factor of both early and late onset PE.