| Today's Date: Monday, February 08, 2010 |
| Vitamin D Insufficiency Linked To Bacterial Vaginosis In Pregnant Women |
| Wednesday, May 20, 2009 |
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Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal infection in US women of childbearing age, and is common in pregnant women. Vitamin D may play a role in BV because it exerts influence over a number of aspects of the immune system. This hypothesis is circumstantially supported by the fact that BV is far more common in black than white women, and vitamin D status is substantially lower in black than white women. This relation, however, has not been rigorously studied. To assess whether poor vitamin D status may play a role in predisposing a woman to BV, Dr. Lisa Bodnar and coworkers at the University of Pittsburgh and the Magee-Womens Research Institute studied 469 pregnant women. This prospective epidemiologic study investigated the relation between vitamin D status and BV in 209 white and 260 black women at <16 week of pregnancy with singleton gestations. Blood samples were taken, and serum analyzed for 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], a marker of vitamin D status. 25(OH)D levels below 80 nmol/L are typically considered insufficient. Pelvic examinations were performed, and Gram-stained vaginal smears were assessed to diagnose BV, said researchers. The data indicated that 41 percent of all enrolled women had BV, and that 93 percent had 25(OH)D levels indicative of vitamin D insufficiency. Overall, women with BV had lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations than those without BV (P < 0.01). The prevalence of BV decreased as vitamin D concentration increased to 80 nmol/L (P < 0.001). Compared with 75 nmol/L, serum 25(OH)D concentrations of 20 nmol/L and 50 nmol/L were associated with 65 percent and 26 percent increases, respectively, in the likelihood of BV. In summary, these findings suggest that vitamin D insufficiency is associated with BV in the first 4 mo of pregnancy. Further, poor vitamin D status may contribute to the strong racial disparity in the prevalence of BV in US women. Controlled intervention trials will be needed to confirm this hypothesis, researchers said. For more information on “Maternal Vitamin D Deficiency Is Associated with Bacterial Vaginosis in the First Trimester of Pregnancy,” published in the iJournal of Nutrition, visit: www.nutrition.org. |
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