1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D deficiency is associated with preterm birth in African American and Caucasian women

Chandrasekhar Thota, Ramkumar Menon, Stephen J. Fortunato, Lina Brou, Jae Eun Lee, Ayman Al-Hendy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Vitamin (vit) D deficiency and preterm birth (PTB) are more prevalent among African American (AA) women compared to caucasian (Cau) women. Because vit D is important in regulating cell-mediated immune responses, vit D insufficiency or deficiency during pregnancy may enhance inflammation in pregnant women and increase the risk of PTB. In this study, circulatory levels of 25-hydroxy (OH) and 1,25-dihydroxy (OH)2 vit D were measured using chemiluminescence and radioimmunoassay techniques, respectively, in AA (n = 108) and Cau (n = 84) women who delivered at term and preterm. The results from this study suggest that the serum levels of the 25-(OH) vit D concentrations tend to decrease (P =.06) in the Cau women who delivered at preterm compared to those delivering at term. However, the 25-(OH) vit D levels in Cau and AA between term and preterm deliveries were not significantly different. The serum levels of 1,25-(OH)2 vit D were found to be significantly lower in AA women compared to Cau women (P <.02) at term, and in the Cau (P <.01) and AA (P <.04) women delivering at preterm compared to those delivering at term. One-way analysis of variance demonstrated that 1,25-(OH)2 vit D levels were significantly lower in participants delivering at preterm (<34 weeks and between 34 and 37 weeks) compared to those delivering at term (>37 weeks).These results suggest that low levels of serum 1,25-(OH)2 vit D are associated with PTB, and vit D can potentially be used as a novel diagnostic marker in the detection of PTB.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)244-250
Number of pages7
JournalReproductive Sciences
Volume21
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D
  • 25-(OH) vitamin D
  • African Americans
  • Caucasians
  • preterm birth
  • serum levels

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Obstetrics and Gynecology

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