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Lack of vitamin D linked to infection in pregnant women

Category: Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and Treatment

Vitamin D may play a role in preventing bacterial vaginosis (BV), the most common vaginal infection in U.S. women of childbearing age, according to research from the University of Pittsburgh.

BV is quite common in pregnant women and can put a pregnancy at increased risk for various complications such as preterm delivery. The researchers' study adds more evidence to the theory vitamin D may play a role in BV during the first four months of pregnancy due to the effect it has on the immune system.

Researchers studied 469 pregnant women and gave them blood tests to assess their vitamin D level. The researchers found that 41 percent of the subjects had BV, and that overall the women with BV had lower concentrations of vitamin D in their blood than those without. As vitamin D levels in the blood increased toward the cut off line for insufficiency, the prevalence of BV decreased.

The researchers also speculate that the poorer vitamin D status of black women in the U.S. may contribute to the fact that there are much higher rates of BV among black women than white in this country.