title: Highly prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among Brazilian women of reproductive age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Vitamin D has several metabolic functions and possible reproductive functions. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among Brazilian women of reproductive age, and to evaluate the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations and infertility causes.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective cross-sectional study evaluated data from a private Brazilian assisted reproduction center that were collected between January 1 and May 5, 2012. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were measured and compared for infertile and fertile women. Concentrations of 25(OH)D that were < 20 ng/mL were defined as deficiency and concentrations of 21-30 ng/mL were defined as hypovitaminosis D.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 369 evaluated women, 81.1% exhibited hypovitaminosis D and 32.0% exhibited deficiency. The infertile and control patients did not exhibit any significant differences in the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (30.2% vs. 35%, respectively; p = 0.33) or in the mean 25(OH)D concentrations (24.3 ± 7.9 ng/mL vs. 23.8 ± 8.7 ng/mL, respectively; p = 0.51). Furthermore, there were no significant differences in the mean 25(OH)D concentrations among subgroups of patients with single infertility factors, or between these subgroups and the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high proportion of Brazilian women of reproductive age exhibited vitamin D deficiency, regardless of their fertility status. Thus, it may be useful to evaluate this population for vitamin D deficiency, although future studies are needed to determine whether this deficiency might affect the outcomes of treatments for infertility.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Reprodução Humana, Instituto de Vídeo Endoscopia e Reprodução Humana (VERHUM), Brasília, DF, Brasil.
authors.forename: Vinicius Medina
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Reprodução Humana, Centro de Medicina Reprodutiva (Cenafert), Salvador, BA, Brasil.
authors.forename: Joaquim Roberto Costa
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Reprodução Humana, Instituto de Vídeo Endoscopia e Reprodução Humana (VERHUM), Brasília, DF, Brasil.
authors.forename: Jean Pierre Barguil
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Brasileiro
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Embriologia, Instituto de Vídeo Endoscopia e Reprodução Humana (VERHUM), Brasília, DF, Brasil.
authors.forename: Ingrid de
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Reprodução Humana, Instituto de Vídeo Endoscopia e Reprodução Humana (VERHUM), Brasília, DF, Brasil.
authors.forename: Ricardo Peclat
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Lacerda
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Reprodução Humana, Instituto de Vídeo Endoscopia e Reprodução Humana (VERHUM), Brasília, DF, Brasil.
authors.forename: Marcos Renato Dib
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Reprodução Humana, Instituto de Vídeo Endoscopia e Reprodução Humana (VERHUM), Brasília, DF, Brasil.
authors.forename: Natália Ivet Zavattiero
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Tierno
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Reprodução Humana, Instituto de Vídeo Endoscopia e Reprodução Humana (VERHUM), Brasília, DF, Brasil.
authors.forename: Roberto Costa Cavalcante de
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Endocrinologia, Hospital Universitário de Brasília (HUB), Brasília, DF, Brasil.
authors.forename: Luiz Augusto Casulari Roxo da
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Motta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D008875:Middle Aged; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D