Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome who also were vitamin D deficient saw a significant decrease in the intervals between menstrual periods after 8 weeks of vitamin D supplementation, according to research in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Mohamad Irani, MD, of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and colleagues analyzed data from 68 women aged 18 to 38 years with PCOS and vitamin D deficiency who were not pregnant, postpartum or breast-feeding or taking any exogenous hormones between October 2013 and January 2015. Researchers randomly assigned 45 women 50,000 IU oral vitamin D3 once weekly for 8 weeks; 23 women were assigned an oral placebo. Researchers measured serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, serum transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1, soluble endoglin, lipid profiles, testosterone, dehydroepiamdrosterone sulfate and insulin resistance at baseline and 8 weeks after treatment. Clinical parameters, including Ferriman-Gallwey score for hirsutism, blood pressure, acne status and interval between menstrual periods, also were evaluated at baseline and at 8 weeks.
At 8 weeks, vitamin D levels significantly increased in the supplementation group, from a mean of 16.3 ng/mL to 43.2 ng/mL. In addition, there was a significant decrease in the interval between menstrual periods in the vitamin D group vs. the placebo group (mean of 80 days to a mean of 60 days; P = .04), as well as a decrease in Ferriman-Gallwey score (mean of 9.8 to 8.1), triglycerides (mean of 138 mg/dL to 117 mg/dL) and TGF-beta 1 to soluble endoglin ratio, which linear correlation and regression analyses positively correlated with the decrease in triglycerides. In the vitamin D group, 28.6% of women also experienced an improvement in acne vs. 6.6% in the placebo group.
“Furthermore, whereas none of the study participants was undergoing fertility treatment, five women conceived after the vitamin D supplementation, whereas none did after placebo,” the researchers wrote.
There were no significant changes observed in systolic or diastolic BP or mean arterial pressure in either group after treatment.
“Importantly, the findings of our study suggest that a therapeutic intervention aimed at [TGF-beta 1] may be of benefit in patients with PCOS,” the researchers wrote. “Further pre-clinical and experimental animal studies are indicated to test the potential utility of [TGF-beta 1] inhibition in PCOS.”
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