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. 2024 Jun 1;24(1):316.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-024-03065-4.

Association between serum vitamin E and bacterial vaginitis in women: a cross-sectional study

En-Hui Liu  1   2 , Wan-Zhe Liao  1   3 , Hao-Kai Chen  1   4 , Xiao-Ye Huang  1   2 , Rui-Xuan Li  1   5 , Hao-Wen Liang  1   4 , Xu-Guang Guo  6   7   8
Affiliations

Association between serum vitamin E and bacterial vaginitis in women: a cross-sectional study

En-Hui Liu et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Bacterial vaginitis (BV) is a common vaginal disease. Vitamin E has been shown to reduce BV by enhancing immune function, but no studies have analyzed the relationship between vitamin E and BV at different BMIs and ages.

Method: This study used 2242 participants from four cycles of NHANES 1999-2006 in American. Participants' vitamin E levels were divided into four groups, and analyses such as study population description, stratified analysis, multiple logistic regression analysis, and curve fitting were performed. To perform data processing, the researchers used the statistical package R (The R Foundation; http://www.r-project.org ; version 3.6.3) and Empower Stats software ( www.empowerstats.net , X&Y solutions, Inc. Boston, Massachusetts).

Result: The concentrations of serum vitamin E were negatively correlated with the risk of BV, especially when vitamin E were at 1198-5459ug/dL with (OR = -0.443, 95%CI = 0.447-0.923, P = 0.032) or without (OR = -0.521, 95%CI = 0.421-0.837, P = 0.006) adjustment for variables. At the same time, at lower levels, there was no significant association. Vitamin E supplementation may significantly reduce the risk of BV (p < 0.001). In addition, the risk of having BV decreased and then increased with increasing vitamin E concentrations at high BMI levels (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: Vitamin E at moderate to high concentrations may significantly reduce BV risk, says the study, providing clinical evidence for the prevention and the treatment of BV.

Keywords: Bacterial vaginitis; Cross-sectional study; Female diseases; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; Vitamin E.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart for participant inclusion. Flow chart of participant enrollment for the analysis from the National and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2006 dataset
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Correlation between Vitamin E and Bacterial vaginitis. The natural spline curve shows a linear relationship between vitamin E and BV (P linearity < 0.001). The area between the blue dashed lines is considered to be the 95% confidential interval. Each red dot reveals the concentration of vitamin E, forming a continuous fitted curve. Ratios are based on model II in a multivariate logistic regression model, adjusted for all confounders (race, sex, education, age, marital status, income, BMI, alcohol, PIR)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Correlation between vitamin E and BV infection stratified by age. Fitting curve of the association between vitamin E and BV infection, stratified by age, with age = 24 taken as the dividing criterion. Race, sex, education, marital status, income, BMI, alcohol and PIR were adjusted
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Correlation between vitamin E and BV infection stratified by BMI. Fitting curve of the association between vitamin E and BV infection, stratified by BMI, with BMI = 25.88 taken as the dividing criterion. Race, sex, education, age, marital status, income, alcohol and PIR were adjusted
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