Serum Vitamin D Concentrations in Baboons (Papio spp.) during Pregnancy and Obesity

Comp Med. 2016 Apr;66(2):137-42.

Abstract

Obesity is associated with vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to serious problems during pregnancy. However, the mechanisms of the deficiency and guidelines for vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy are not established yet, and variations in environmental exposures combined with the difficulties of performing research in pregnant women are obstacles in the evaluation of vitamin D metabolism. Baboons (Papio spp.) are an excellent, well-established model for reproductive research and represent a unique opportunity to study vitamin D metabolism in a controlled environment. This study used secondary data and specimen analysis as well as a novel experimental design to evaluate pregnant and nonpregnant baboons that were or were not exposed to sunlight while they were obese and after weight reduction. Daily D3 intake was 71% higher in nonpregnant obese baboons than in their nonobese counterparts, but serum vitamin D concentrations did not differ between these populations. In addition, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations correlated negatively with the obesity index. This report is the first to show the effect of obesity and pregnancy on vitamin D concentrations in a NHP population. These data underline the importance of adequate vitamin D supplementation in obese animals.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Female
  • Housing, Animal
  • Humans
  • Models, Animal
  • Obesity / blood*
  • Papio*
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy, Animal / blood*
  • Vitamin D / analogs & derivatives*
  • Vitamin D / blood
  • Vitamin D / therapeutic use
  • Vitamin D Deficiency* / blood
  • Vitamins / blood*
  • Vitamins / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Vitamins
  • Vitamin D
  • 25-hydroxyvitamin D