This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Vitamin D, testosterone link in women may explain reproductive outcomes
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Korean researchers have discovered an association between vitamin D levels and testosterone in healthy women without obesity, according to research published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
“This is first study to show that vitamin D status correlates with testosterone level in healthy women without obesity,” according to the researchers.
The findings from a cross-sectional study at the Fertility Center at CHA Gangnam Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, suggest that vitamin D could increase fertility by modulating androgen activity, according to the researchers, but the causality requires further investigation.
“Interventional studies are needed to confirm a direct cause-and-effect relationship between vitamin D and testosterone levels and to evaluate the potential therapeutic benefits of vitamin D supplementation on reproductive outcomes,” the researchers wrote.
Eun Mi Chang, MD, of CHA University, and colleagues looked at 73 women (mean age, 33.8 years; mean BMI, 20.7 kg/m2) with regular menstrual cycles who had given birth at least once and had no history of infertility to determine the relationship between vitamin D, reproductive hormone levels and ovarian reserve.
The investigators measured vitamin D, steroid hormones, sex hormone-binding globulin, ovarian reserve markers, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and lipid profiles.
Through linear regression analysis, with adjustments made for age, BMI, HOMA-IR and lipid profile, the researchers found vitamin D positively correlated with total testosterone (P<.001) and free androgen index (P<.001); however, no correlation was seen with dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate or other steroid hormones.
The relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and total testosterone was strongest with 25-(OH)D concentrations >13 ng/mL (beta coefficient=2.374; 95% CI, 1.435-3.313), based on spline regression. No associations were seen between levels of vitamin D and ovarian reserve markers.
“The relationship between 25-hydroxy vitamin D and testosterone levels in women may partially explain the beneficial effect of vitamin D on reproductive outcomes,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The study was supported by a grant from the Korean Healthcare Technology R&D project, Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, Republic of Korea.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts