No Causal Effect of 25(OH)D on Gestational HTN, Preeclampsia

"No strong evidence was found to support a causal effect of vitamin D status on gestational hypertension or preeclampsia," the authors write.

HealthDay News — Vitamin D status does not have a causal effect on gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, according to research published online June 20 in The BMJ.

Maria C. Magnus, PhD, from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, and colleagues used mendelian randomization to examine whether 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration has a causal effect on gestational hypertension or preeclampsia in 2 European pregnancy cohorts and 2 case-control studies. A total of 7389 women were included in a one-sample mendelian randomization analysis (751 with gestational hypertension and 135 with preeclampsia), while the 2-sample mendelian randomization analysis included 3388 preeclampsia cases and 6,059 controls. 

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In the conventional multivariable analysis, the researchers found that the relative risk for preeclampsia was 1.03 per 10% decrease in 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and 2.04 for 25-hydroxyvitamin D<25 mmol/L vs ≥75nmol/L. There was no correlation for gestational hypertension. There was no strong evidence of a linear effect for 25-hydroxyvitamin D on the risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia in the one-sample mendelian randomization analysis. In the 2-sample mendelian randomization estimate, the odds ratios for preeclampsia were not significant per 10% decrease in 25-hydroxyvitamin D level or per unit increase in the log(odds) of 25-hydroxyvitamin D level <75nmol/L or <50nmol/L.

“No strong evidence was found to support a causal effect of vitamin D status on gestational hypertension or preeclampsia,” the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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