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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · AJP Rep 2019; 09(03): e226-e234
DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1693163
Original Article
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Association of Bacterial Vaginosis with Vitamin D in Pregnancy: Secondary Analysis from the Kellogg Pregnancy Study

Anna Maya Powell
1   Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Judy R. Shary
2   Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
,
Christopher Louden
3   Louden Consulting, Bandera, Texas
,
Vishwanathan Ramakrishnan
4   Department of Biostatistics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
,
Allison Ross Eckard
5   Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
,
Carol L. Wagner
2   Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
› Author Affiliations Funding Funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and by the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research (SCTR) Institute, with an academic home at the Medical University of South Carolina, NIH/NCAT grant number UL1 TR000062. Vitamin D study drug and placebo provided by Church & Dwight (Princeton, NJ).
Further Information

Publication History

22 January 2019

26 April 2019

Publication Date:
11 July 2019 (online)

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Abstract

Objective Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is associated with vitamin D deficiency and poor pregnancy outcomes. We studied a nested cohort from a randomized controlled trial to investigate the association between BV and vitamin D concentration in pregnancy.

Study Design Subjects with randomly assigned 400 versus 4,400 IU of daily cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) had vaginal swabs collected for Gram staining and Nugent score calculation, as well as plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) measurement at three pregnancy time points.

Results Fifty-two (21.2%) of the 245 women included in the analysis were diagnosed with BV at study entry. Women with BV were also more likely to be African American (p < 0.0001) and have lower 25(OH)D concentrations at 22 to 24 weeks' gestation (p = 0.03). There were no differences in pregnancy outcomes of interest within this group compared with the remaining study subjects. In mixed regression modeling, while race (p = 0.001) and age (p = 0.03) were significant predictors of BV prevalence independently, 25(OH)D concentration (p = 0.81), gestational age (p = 0.06), and body mass index (p = 0.87) were not.

Conclusion Neither vitamin D deficiency in early pregnancy nor supplementation decreased BV incidence during pregnancy. Pregnancy outcomes (preterm birth and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy) were similar among women with and without BV.

Keywords

bacterial vaginosis - vitamin D supplementation - pregnancy - Gram stain

Note

This study was presented at the annual Infectious Disease Society for Obstetricians and Gynecologists in Park City, UT, August 2017.


Disclosure

The authors have no relevant financial disclosure.


 

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