Vitamin D supplementation inhibits NF-kß signaling pathway in lean and obese women with PCOS

This study aims at investigating the effect of vitamin D (VD) replacement therapy on serum nuclear factor-kappa β (NF-kβ) levels in both lean and obese women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).

50 women with PCOS with VD levels lower than 20 ng/mL were included in the study. Participants were equally divided into two groups, as lean and overweight/obese PCOS, according to their body mass index (BMI) values. Patients in both groups received 2000 IU/day oral VD replacement for two months. Serum NF-kβ, VD, demographic and hormonal values of the patients were recorded before and after VD replacement therapy.

Serum insulin and homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR) values of overweight/obese women with PCOS were significantly higher than lean women with PCOS. Pre-replacement NF-kβ levels were found to be significantly higher in the overweight/obese PCOS group (3.22 ± 1.09 ng/mL) than in the lean PCOS group (1.22 ± 0.43 ng/mL) (p < 0.03). Serum NF-kβ levels of the patients in the overweight/obese group (1.10 ± 0.30 ng/mL) and the lean group (0.83 ± 0.10 ng/mL) decreased significantly after VD replacement. No significant difference was found between the groups in terms of HOMA-IR, insulin, and total testosterone levels at the end of VD replacement therapy.

VD replacement therapy contributes to the improvement of subfertility and metabolic imbalance by reducing serum NF-kβ levels in both lean and obese women with PCOS.