Women's vitamin D levels and IVF results: a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis, considering three categories of vitamin status (replete, insufficient and deficient)
Hum Fertil (Camb). 2020 Aug 14;1-19. doi: 10.1080/14647273.2020.1807618
Florina Iliuta 1, Jose Ignacio Pijoan 2, Lucía Lainz 1, Antonia Exposito 1, Roberto Matorras 1 3 4
Vitamin D greatly improves Fertility
- Live birth 1.7 X more likely after IVF if good level of vitamin D – meta-analysis Aug 2020
- If diagnosed infertile, more likely to have live birth if Vitamin D fortification – Feb 2020
- Infertility treatment needs to achieve at least 30 ng of vitamin D – May 2019
- Vitamin D is needed for human fertility – goal is 50 ng – Sept 2018
- Preconception vitamin D is great - every extra 10 ng associated with 10 percent more likely to have live birth – Aug 2018
- In-vitro Fertilization costs at least 10,000 dollars, Vitamin D costs 5 dollars
- Women with more than minimum vitamin D were 3.4 X more likely to achieve pregnancy and 1.6 X more likely to have live births – June 2017
- Assisted Reproduction – 5 studies concluded vitamin D repletion helps – Review March 2015
- Pregnancy success increased 30 percent if sunny (or vitamin D) one month earlier – June 2015
- IVF 4X more successful for white women with lots of vitamin D – Oct 2012 many studies
Increased male Vitamin D increases fertility
- Fertility (sperm) associated with vitamin D – meta-analysis Sept 2019
- Infertility - 71 percent of the time of BOTH partners had less than 20 ng of Vitamin D – Aug 2017
- Birth rates doubled with Vitamin D - 300,000 loading dose for men – RCT Nov 2017
- Male fertility 4 X higher if high Vitamin D – Nov 2015
- Vitamin D somewhat assists reproduction – both the mother and the father – May 2014
- Male fertility is improved in many ways by vitamin D – Jan 2014
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To investigate the influence of vitamin D status on in vitro fertilisation (IVF) results, a meta-analysis of 15 cohort studies of 3711 women undergoing IVF was performed. Women were classified into three groups according their vitamin D levels (≥30 ng/mL considered replete/sufficient; 21-29 ng/mL insufficient and <20 ng/mL deficient). Three different meta-analyses were performed: (i) sufficient vs deficient; (ii) sufficient vs 'insufficient + deficient'; (iii) 'sufficient + insufficient' vs deficient.
Comparing IVF outcomes in sufficient versus deficient groups (considering autologous and donor oocyte cycles together), we found women with sufficient vitamin D had significantly higher
- biochemical pregnancy (OR = 1.43 [1.06-1.95]),
- ongoing pregnancy (OR = 1.29 [1.02-1.64]), and
- live birth (OR = 1.74 [1.31-2.31]) rates,
- with a non-significant trend to a higher clinical pregnancy rate (OR = 1.31 [0.94-1.82]),
- whereas implantation and miscarriage rates were similar.
When the meta-analysis was restricted to autologous oocytes, the parameters which had been significant in the joint analysis remained significant, and differences in
- implantation (OR = 1.64, [1.17-2.29]) and
- clinical pregnancy (OR = 1.47 [1.2-1.69]) rates became significant.
No significant differences were found when considering only cycles with donor oocytes. The sufficient + insufficient vs deficient and sufficient vs 'insufficient + deficient' comparisons identified significant differences in live birth rate.
The meta-analysis shows that sufficient vitamin D status is associated with better outcomes in IVF. Nonetheless, there are many demographic, geographic and clinical parameters that may be related to vitamin D status that need to be ascertained before concluding that the better results are due to the higher levels of vitamin D.