Vitamin D status in endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose No consensus exists on the relationship between vitamin D status and endometriosis. The chief aim of our study was to evaluate the association between serum vitamin D levels and endometriosis.

We searched for MEDLINE, EMBASE, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases for studies elucidated the circulating vitamin D levels in endometriosis. The standardized mean differences (SMDs) or odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence interval (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the association between vitamin D levels and endometriosis.

Nine studies were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results indicated that women with endometriosis had lower vitamin D status than that in controls (SMD − 0.97 ng/mL, 95% CI − 1.80 to − 0.14; p = 0.02), and vitamin D status had a negative correlation with the severity of the disease (stage III–IV vs stage I–II: SMD − 1.33 ng/mL, 95% CI − 2.54 to − 0.12; p = 0.03). Although it was not statistically significantly different, hypovitaminosis D had a tendency to be associated with endometriosis (OR 2.77, 95% CI 0.85–6.08, p = 0.10). Heterogeneity was high among included studies. Subgroup analyses revealed that women with no hormone use had lower vitamin D status when compared with controls (SMD − 1.38 ng/mL, 95% CI − 2.59 to − 0.18; p = 0.02). For studies which sample size < 100, serum vitamin D levels were significantly lower in patients than that in controls (SMD − 0.65 ng/mL, 95% CI − 1.19 to − 0.11; p = 0.02).

Women with endometriosis had lower vitamin D status when compared with controls, and a negative relationship between vitamin D levels and severity of endometriosis was observed. In addition, hypovitaminosis D was a potential risk factor for endometriosis. Similar content being viewed by others

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Additional information Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Electronic supplementary material Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material. Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Qiu, Y., Yuan, S. & Wang, H. Vitamin D status in endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Gynecol Obstet 302, 141–152 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-020-05576-5 Received: Accepted: Published: Version of record: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-020-05576-5