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. 2015 Nov 26:15:314.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-015-0751-5.

Vitamin D deficiency and dyslipidemia in early pregnancy

Abdulrahman Al-Ajlan  1 , Soundararajan Krishnaswamy  2 , Majed S Alokail  3 , Naji J Aljohani  4 , Amal Al-Serehi  5 , Eman Sheshah  6 , Naemah M Alshingetti  7 , Mona Fouda  8 , Iqbal Z Turkistani  9 , Nasser M Al-Daghri  10
Affiliations

Vitamin D deficiency and dyslipidemia in early pregnancy

Abdulrahman Al-Ajlan et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: Vitamin 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.

Methods: In 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).

Results: Results 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).

Conclusions: The 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.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Association between serum log vitamin D and cholesterol concentrations in vitamin D deficient women. In the vitamin D deficient sub-group of women [25(OH)D <25 nmol/L; n = 350], the relation between serum levels of log 25(OH)D/vitamin D and total cholesterol was determined by Pearson correlation coefficient analysis. Results are presented as a scatter plot
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Association between serum log vitamin D and triglyceride concentration in vitamin D deficient women. In the vitamin D deficient sub-group of women [25(OH)D <25 nmol/L; n = 350], the relation between serum levels of log 25(OH)D/vitamin D and total triglycerides was determined by Pearson correlation coefficient analysis. Results are presented as a scatter plot
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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