Maternal Vitamin D Status and Risk of Gestational Diabetes: a Meta-Analysis

Whether maternal vitamin D deficiency is associated with gestational diabetes remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to systematically evaluate published evidence on the association between maternal vitamin D status and the risk of gestational diabetes.

We retrieved relevant articles from the PubMed, Medline and Embase databases up to May 2017 for observational studies investigating the association between vitamin D status and the risk of gestational diabetes. Odds ratios (OR) or risk ratios (RR) from individual studies were pooled using the fixed and random effect models.

The meta-analysis of 29 observational studies included 28,982 participants, of which 4,634 were diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and showed that maternal vitamin D insufficiency was associated with a significantly increased risk of gestational diabetes by 39% (pooled OR = 1.39, 95%CI = 1.20-1.60) with moderate heterogeneity (I2 = 50.2%; P = 0.001). Moreover, the 25(OH)D level was significantly lower in gestational diabetes cases than in controls with a pooled effect of -4.79 nmol/L (95% CI = -6.43, -3.15). Significant heterogeneity was also detected (I2 = 65.0%, P < 0.001). Further subgroup analysis indicated that this association was also evident in most subpopulations.

This meta-analysis indicated a significant association between vitamin D insufficiency and increased risk of gestational diabetes. Further well-designed large-scale clinical trials are essential to verify this association.