Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2015 Jun;141(6):799-806.
doi: 10.4103/0971-5916.160707.

Treatment of vitamin D deficiency is an effective method in the elimination of asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis: A placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial

Mahshid Taheri, Azam Baheiraei, Abbas Rahimi Foroushani, Bahram Nikmanesh, Maryam Modarres  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Treatment of vitamin D deficiency is an effective method in the elimination of asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis: A placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial

Mahshid Taheri et al. Indian J Med Res. 2015 Jun.

Abstract

Background & objectives: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most prevalent vaginal infection in women of reproductive age group which has been found to be associated with vitamin D deficiency. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the administration of 2000 IU/day edible vitamin D for 15 wk to eliminate asymptomatic BV among reproductive age women with vitamin D deficiency.

Methods: A total of 208 women with asymptomatic BV, who were found to be eligible after interviews and laboratory tests, were randomly assigned to a control group (n=106) or an intervention group (n=105). They used vitamin D drops daily for 105 days. Vaginal and blood samples were taken before and after the second intervention using identical methods (Nugent score for BV diagnosis, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D for vitamin D determination).

Results: The cure rate of asymptomatic BV was 63.5 per cent in the intervention and 19.2 per cent in the control group (P <0.001). The results showed that being unmarried (P=0.02), being passive smoker (P<0.001), and being in the luteal phase of a menstrual cycle during sampling (P=0.01) were significantly associated with post-intervention BV positive results. After these elements were controlled, the odds of BV positive results in the control group was 10.8 times more than in the intervention group (P<0.001).

Interpretation & conclusions: Among women in reproductive age group with vitamin D deficiency, the administration of 2000 IU/day edible vitamin D was effective in eliminating asymptomatic BV. This treatment could be useful in preventing the symptoms and side effects of BV.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure
Figure
Flowchart showing the trial profile. After screening process, 211 eligible women used 2 drops/day of randomly chosen solutions for 15 wk. Asymptomatic BV was evaluated by Nugent score; score of 0-3 was defined as BV negative (score of 4-6 was not seen at all). Three women did not continue the study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ryckman KK, Williams SM, Kalinka J. Correlations of selected vaginal cytokine levels with pregnancy-related traits in women with bacterial vaginosis and mycoplasmas. J Reprod Immunol. 2008;78:172–80. - PubMed
    1. Verstraelen H, Verhelst R, Vaneechoutte M, Temmerman M. The epidemiology of bacterial vaginosis in relation to sexual behaviour. BMC Infect Dis. 2010;10:81. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carey JC, Klebanoff MA. Is a change in the vaginal flora associated with an increased risk of preterm birth? Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2005;192:1341. discussion. - PubMed
    1. Donders GG, Van Calsteren K, Bellen G, Reybrouck R, Van den Bosch T, Riphagen I, et al. Predictive value for preterm birth of abnormal vaginal flora, bacterial vaginosis and aerobic vaginitis during the first trimester of pregnancy. BJOG. 2009;116:1315–24. - PubMed
    1. Leitich H, Kiss H. Asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis and intermediate flora as risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcome. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2007;21:375–90. - PubMed

Publication types