IMPLICATIONS OF SERUM VITAMIN D LEVELS IN FEMALE INFERTILITY: A REVIEW (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin with several physiological functions and has been related as a possible factor of influence on the reproductive process and, especially, on the female reproductive physiology. However, despite the increasing number of studies in the area, its influence on reproductive health has not been clarified, with conflicting results in responding if there is an association between low serum vitamin D levels and female infertility. The aim of this review is to elucidate the effect of vitamin D on female infertility, presenting current evidence of the association of serum levels of vitamin D in the face of several causes of infertility. A bibliographic search was performed in the MEDLINE (Pubmed), Google Academics, Scielo, Cochrane Central, Research Gate and Public Domain databases, using the word combinations: “vitamin D intertility”, “vitamina D infertilidade”, “vitamin d infertility polycystic ovary syndrome”. The selected articles were from January 2018 to April 2019. Selected studies show that low vitamin D levels are associated with impaired fertility in women diagnosed with endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome, as well as an association with successful in vitro fertilization. However, although there are suggestions and physiological evidence to support a relation of vitamin D deficiency and infertility, randomized controlled trials are still required in different populations to confirm that variations ins serum vitamin D concentrations compromises the health and fertility of women. Determination of serum vitamin D concentration in the reproductive period and the vitamin D supplementation would have important implications for the public health of different communities.