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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 Feb 7;13(2):547.
doi: 10.3390/nu13020547.

Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on Surrogate Markers of Fertility in PCOS Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Elisabeth Lerchbaum  1 , Verena Theiler-Schwetz  1 , Martina Kollmann  2 , Monika Wölfler  2 , Stefan Pilz  1 , Barbara Obermayer-Pietsch  1 , Christian Trummer  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on Surrogate Markers of Fertility in PCOS Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Elisabeth Lerchbaum et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Vitamin D (VD) might play an important role in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and female fertility. However, evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCT) is sparse. We examined VD effects on anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and other endocrine markers in PCOS and non-PCOS women. This is a post hoc analysis of a single-center, double-blind RCT conducted between December 2011 and October 2017 at the endocrine outpatient clinic at the Medical University of Graz, Austria. We included 180 PCOS women and 150 non-PCOS women with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations <75 nmol/L in the trial. We randomized subjects to receive 20,000 IU of VD3/week (119 PCOS, 99 non-PCOS women) or placebo (61 PCOS, 51 non-PCOS women) for 24 weeks. Outcome measures were AMH, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and androstenedione. In PCOS women, we observed a significant treatment effect on FSH (mean treatment effect 0.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.087 to 1.799, p = 0.031) and LH/FSH ratio (mean treatment effect -0.335, 95% CI -0.621 to 0.050, p = 0.022), whereas no significant effect was observed in non-PCOS women. In PCOS women, VD treatment for 24 weeks had a significant effect on FSH and LH/FSH ratio but no effect on AMH levels.

Keywords: anti-Müllerian hormone; follicle-stimulating hormone; polycystic ovary syndrome; randomized controlled trial; vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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