Higher vitamin D levels protect pregnant women from preeclampsia: Study

China: Higher serum levels and dietary intake of vitamin D (VD) lowers the risk of preeclampsia (PE) in pregnant women, finds a recent study in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by dangerously high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the kidneys and liver.

The association between vitamin D and preeclampsia risk is uncertain. Only a few previous studies have focused on the relationship between dietary vitamin D intake and PE risk. , Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China, and colleagues, therefore, conducted a 1:1 matched case-control study to explore the association of dietary vitamin D intake and serum vitamin D concentrations with PE risk in Chinese pregnant women.

The researchers recruited a total of 440 pairs of participants from March 2016 to June 2019. Dietary information was obtained using a 78-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to measure serum concentrations of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were plotted to evaluate the dose-response relationship of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk.

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Key findings of the study include:

Our study provides evidence that higher dietary intake and serum levels of VD are associated with the lower risk of PE in Chinese pregnant women, concluded the authors.

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Reference:

The study titled, "Dietary and serum vitamin D and preeclampsia risk in Chinese pregnant women: a matched case–control study," is published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114521002956