Vitamin D deficiency and dyslipidemia in early pregnancy

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±3.4weeks). 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.