Research has found that deficiency of vitamin D impairs fertility in rodents, although the role this deficiency may play in human reproduction has not previously been fully investigated. To examine this further, researchers from Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico and the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy, conducted a large study comparing in vitro fertilization outcomes between women with low levels of vitamin D and women with sufficient levels of vitamin D. All of the women in the study had been referred to the Infertility Unit of the Fondazione Ca' Granda at Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico for in vitro fertilization (IVF) during 2012.
The participants were comprised of 154 women who were vitamin D deficient (exhibiting less than 20 ng/ml of the hormone in their blood) and 181 women who had sufficient levels of vitamin D (more than 20 ng/ml). Vitamin D levels in the blood of…
