Influence of vitamin D level in the second trimester of pregnancy on the complications of chinese pregnant women and fetuses

Abstract

Background: Vitamin D has been found to have more biological effects beyond the traditional research range, which involve in immunoregulation, occurrence, and development of tumor, reproduction, cell differentiation, and so forth. Herein, the influence of Vitamin D level in the second trimester of pregnancy on the Chinese pregnant women and fetal weight was investigated. Methods: Totally 1,612 pregnant women were followed up during the study, the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) level was measured with ELISA at the 16th gestational week, and the fasting blood glucose was measured with hexokinase method using an automatic biochemistry analyzer at the same time. At week 24, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed to test the blood glucose level (fasting blood glucose, 1 h and 2 h after oral administration of glucose). Besides, other indices (e.g., fetal birth weight) were recorded and analyzed by SPSS version 19.0 software. Results: Pearson's correlation analysis indicated that the serum 25(OH)D had a negative correlation with blood glucose at 1 h after oral glucose administration at week 24 in OGTT (correlation coefficient: −0.03, P = 0.01). However, it did not have correlations with the fasting blood glucose at weeks 16 and 24 as well as the blood glucose at 2 h after oral glucose administration at week 24. The Pearson's correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between Vitamin D level in the pregnant women and fetal birth weight, and there was no correlation between them. Conclusion: The Vitamin D level in the second trimester of pregnancy had a negative correlation with blood glucose and had no correlation with fetal birth weight.

Keywords

• Blood Glucose; Low Birth Weight; Second Trimester of Pregnancy; Vitamin D