The Degree of Prepregnancy Vitamin D Deficiency Is Not Associated With Gestational Diabetes in Women Undergoing ART

Yvonne Liu; Johann-Georg Hocher; Huijun Chen; Liang Hu; Xiaoli Zhang; Sufen Cai; Sha Tang; Fei Gong; Bernhard K Krämer; Ge Lin; Berthold Hocher

doi:10.1210/jendso/bvad140

The Degree of Prepregnancy Vitamin D Deficiency Is Not Associated With Gestational Diabetes in Women Undergoing ART

J Endocr Soc. 2023 Nov 10;7(12):bvad140. doi: 10.1210/jendso/bvad140. eCollection 2023 Nov 2.

Authors

Yvonne Liu^{1

2}, Johann-Georg Hocher^{1

3}, Huijun Chen^{1

2

4}, Liang Hu^{4

5

6}, Xiaoli Zhang^{1

7}, Sufen Cai^{4

5}, Sha Tang⁴, Fei Gong^{4

5

6}, Bernhard K Krämer^{1

6}, Ge Lin^{4

5

6}, Berthold Hocher^{1

4

5

8}

Affiliations

¹ Fifth Department of Medicine (Nephrology/Endocrinology/Rheumatology/Pneumology), University Medical Centre Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, 68167 Mannheim, Germany.
² Medical Faculty of Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
³ Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, 150 06 Prague, Czech Republic.
⁴ Department of Clinical Science, Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha 410008, China.
⁵ School of Basic Medical Science, Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410017, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Stem Cells and Reproductive Engineering, Ministry of Health, Changsha 410017, China.
⁷ Institute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
⁸ Institute of Medical Diagnostics, IMD, 12247 Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

Context: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common pregnancy complication, particularly in women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART). An association of GDM with vitamin D in women conceiving naturally has been described; however, studies have yielded heterogeneous results.

Objective: To analyze the association between prepregnancy total and free vitamin D and GDM incidence in women undergoing ART.

Methods: Post hoc analysis of a prospective study at the Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya in Changsha, China. Total and free vitamin D were measured 1 day before embryo transfer. The patients were screened for GDM using the oral glucose tolerance test.

Results: A total of 1593 women were included in the study, among whom 256 (16.1%) developed GDM. According to international guidelines for total 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], 47 (2.9%) patients had sufficient (≥30 ng/mL) levels, while 696 (43.7%) were insufficient (20 to <30 ng/mL) and 850 (54.4%) were deficient (<20 ng/mL). Comparing GDM and non-GDM patients, there was no significant difference in total nor free vitamin D levels (P = .340 and .849). Similarly, analysis of GDM rates by quintiles of total and free 25(OH)D showed no significant association in one-way ANOVA (P = .831 and .799). Multivariate logistic regression, considering age, BMI, and fasting glucose, also did not show a significant influence of the 2 vitamin D forms on GDM incidence (P = .266 and .123 respectively).

Conclusion: In this relatively vitamin D deficient/insufficient ART cohort, the degree of neither total nor free vitamin D deficiency before pregnancy was associated with the occurrence of GDM.

Keywords: free vitamin D; gestational diabetes; in vitro fertilization; vitamin D.