The effect of vitamin D on vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Background: Most of the women suffer from vaginal atrophy and dryness, and therefore, efficient and safe treatment is needed to improve vaginal lubrication. Vitamin D has several important functions which may be effective in proliferation and repair of the epithelial tissue. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D vaginal suppositories on maturation index, pH, and dryness in postmenopausal women.

Materials and methods: Women were enrolled in this double-blind clinical trial, in whom menopause occurred at least one year ago. Those women who had an abnormal Papanicolaou smear, had undergone hormonal treatment, or have had vaginal infection in the previous year were excluded. Forty-four women who found eligible were randomized into two equal groups, the treatment and control groups, which received vitamin D and placebo vaginal suppository daily for 8 weeks, respectively. Vaginal pH and maturation value were measured at the beginning and end of the study. Pain, dryness, and paleness were assessed before treatment and at the end of the 2, 4, and 8 weeks of treatment.

Results: In the treatment group, the number (Mean ± SD) of superficial cells increased (69.76 ± 12.4) and vaginal pH decreased (1.42 ± 0.67) significantly compared to the control group after 56 days. The mean pain significantly reduced after 8 weeks in the treatment group (1.23 ± 0.53) compared to the control group 1.95 ± 0.74 (P < 0.001). The mean of dryness and paleness reduced significantly in the treatment group versus control at 56 days.

Conclusions: Vitamin D is effective in improving the maturation index and decreased the pH and dryness of the vaginal atrophy due to menopause.

Keywords: Estrogen replacement; Iran; menopause; vaginal suppository; vitamin D.

Figure 1

Posterior vaginal wall smear showing decrease in the number of parabasal cells (arrow) and increase in superficial cells in women with vitamin D vaginal suppository (a, c) compared to the placebo suppositories (b, d), 8 weeks after treatment. Papanicolaou, scale bar: 100 µm (a, b), 50 µm (c, d)