Vitamin D deficiency and dyslipidemia in early pregnancy.

Abdulrahman Al-Ajlan,Iqbal Z. Turkistani,Nasser M. Al-Daghri,Naemah M. Alshingetti,Majed S. Alokail,Mona Fouda,Naji J. Aljohani,Amal Al-Serehi,Eman Sheshah,Soundararajan Krishnaswamy

doi:10.1186/s12884-015-0751-5

Abstract

BackgroundVitamin D deficiency is a common nutritional issue and dietary supplementation in the general population, including pregnant women, is generally advised. Appropriately high levels of vitamin D are expected to play a role in containing the glycemic and atherogenic profiles observed in pregnancy. However, the relation between vitamin D status and the lipid metabolic profile in Saudi women, who are known to suffer from chronic vitamin D deficiency and high incidence of obesity and type II DM, during the course of pregnancy is not known.MethodsIn this study, we analyzed the relation between serum vitamin D level and various serum metabolic markers among Saudi women (n = 515) in their first trimester of pregnancy (11.2 ± 3.4 weeks). Coefficients of Pearson correlation and Spearman rank correlation were calculated for Gaussian and non-Gaussian variables, respectively. Serum vitamin D status was defined as (in nmol/L): deficient (<25), insufficient (25–50); sufficient (50–75) and desirable (>75).ResultsResults indicated that vitamin D status was sufficient in only 3.5 % of the study participants and insufficient and deficient in 26.2 % and 68.0 % of participants, respectively. Serum vitamin D values in the overall study population correlated positively with serum levels of total cholesterol (R = 0.172; p < 0.01), triglycerides (R = 0.184; p < 0.01) and corrected calcium (R = 0.141; p < 0.05). In the subgroup of vitamin D deficient subjects (n = 350), log serum vitamin D values correlated with serum triglycerides (R = 0.23; p = 0.002) and cholesterol (R = 0.26; p = 0.001).ConclusionsThe positive correlations between serum vitamin D and the atherogenic factors such as total cholesterol and triglycerides indicate a pro-atherogenic metabolic status in vitamin D deficient expectant mothers. This may represent an adaptation to the high metabolic demands of pregnancy.

Highlights

Vitamin D deficiency is a common nutritional issue and dietary supplementation in the general population, including pregnant women, is generally advised
Hypovitaminosis D in pregnant women is very common and has important implications for the mother and lifelong health of the child, as it has been linked to maternal and child infections, small-for-gestational age (SGA), preterm delivery, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), as well as DNA imprinting in the infant for lifelong chronic diseases [1]
Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency 515 normal, healthy women in their 1st trimester of pregnancy were recruited in this prospective study aiming to determine the effect of vitamin D status on the development or not of GDM, during the progression of pregnancy

Summary

Introduction

Vitamin D deficiency is a common nutritional issue and dietary supplementation in the general population, including pregnant women, is generally advised. The relation between vitamin D status and the lipid metabolic profile in Saudi women, who are known to suffer from chronic vitamin D deficiency and high incidence of obesity and type II DM, during the course of pregnancy is not known. Hypovitaminosis D in pregnant women is very common and has important implications for the mother and lifelong health of the child, as it has been linked to maternal and child infections, small-for-gestational age (SGA), preterm delivery, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), as well as DNA imprinting in the infant for lifelong chronic diseases [1]. It was suggested that changes in carbohydrate and lipid metabolic markers in pregnant women may not reflect a pathologic condition but rather indicate a necessary adaptation of the mother’s physiology to balance the energy demands of the fetus and to prepare the mother for delivery and lactation [12]. GDM was suggested to be a transient manifestation of long-standing metabolic dysfunction [10]

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Conclusion