Objective: Following the discovery of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] receptor expression in the reproductive system organs and placenta, many studies exploring the relationship between pregnancy complications and 25(OH)D is being performed. In this study, we examined serum 25(OH)D levels in early pregnancy loss.
Methods: Patients who were in 20-30 years old age range whose body mass index >25 and <30, between April 2019 and January 2020 were included in the study at the Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology of University of Health Sciences Turkey, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital in Istanbul/Turkey. Those who had miscarriage within the first 10 weeks (as a study group) and those who were diagnosed within the first 10 weeks and continued their pregnancies as live pregnancies after the 10th week (as a control group) were included in the study as two groups. Cases where the pregnancy was conceived through artificial reproductive technology, cases with a history of recurrent pregnancy losses, cases with chronic diseases and cases treated for imminent abortion were excluded. First prenatal visit 25(OH)D levels were retrospectively extracted from the hospital medical records.
Results: A statistically significant difference was observed between the 25(OH)D levels in women with an early pregnancy loss and 25(OH) D levels in women with an ongoing healthy pregnancy (p<0.01). The mean 25(OH)D level was found to be 8.61 ng/mL in the spontaneous pregnancy loss group; whereas, the mean level was found to be 16.61 ng/mL in the control group. As of this significance, a cut-off value for 25(OH)D levels was calculated using receiver operator characteristic curve analysis (sensitivity 94%, specificity 74%). Additionally, among other factors, older paternal age and vaginitis were also correlated with early pregnancy loss.
Conclusion: Our results show that 25(OH)D deficiency may play a role in early pregnancy loss. 25(OH)D may be a useful marker in predicting and preventing early pregnancy loss.