American Heart Journal
Volume 159, Issue 3 , Page e19, March 2010

Low vitamin D may explain the link between preeclampsia and cardiovascular disease

Sunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center (SUNARC), San Francisco, CA

Article Outline

 

Sir:

The recent review and meta-analysis of cardiovascular sequelae of preeclampsia found large increases in risk of cardiovascular diseases for those who suffered preeclampsia and an increased risk with increasing severity of preeclampsia.1 Preeclampsia is also associated with increased risk of cancer.2 I would like to suggest that the link is low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D), which has been reported as a risk factor for preeclampsia3 as well as for cardiovascular disease.4, 5 Serum 25(OH)D levels are associated with important cardiovascular disease risk factors in US adults.6 Low serum 25(OH)D is also an important risk factor for many types of cancer.7 It has been suggested that pregnant and nursing women should be taking 4,000 to 6,000 IU/d of vitamin D.8 For optimal health in general, serum 25(OH)D levels should be >32 ng/mL (80 nmol/L).9 One thousand international units per day raises serum 25(OH)D by about 10 ng/mL.9

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Disclosures 

I receive funding from the UV Foundation (McLean, VA), the Vitamin D Society (Canada), the Sunlight Research Forum (Veldhoven), and Bio-Tech-Pharmacal (Fayetteville, AR).

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References 

  1. McDonald SD, Malinowski A, Zhou Q, et al. Cardiovascular sequelae of preeclampsia/eclampsia: a systematic review and meta-analyses. Am Heart J. 2008;156:918–930
  2. Calderon-Margalit R, Friedlander Y, Yanetz R, et al. Preeclampsia and subsequent risk of cancer: update from the Jerusalem Perinatal Study. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2009;200:63.e1–63.e5
  3. Bodnar LM, Catov JM, Simhan HN, et al. Maternal vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of preeclampsia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007;92:3517–3522
  4. Wang TJ, Pencina MJ, Booth SL, et al. Vitamin D deficiency and risk of cardiovascular disease. Circulation. 2008;117:503–511
  5. Michos ED, Melamed ML. Vitamin D and cardiovascular disease risk. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008;11:7–12
  6. Martins D, Wolf M, Pan D, et al. Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and the serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the United States: data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:1159–1165
  7. Grant WB, Garland CF. The association of solar ultraviolet B (UVB) with reducing risk of cancer: multifactorial ecologic analysis of geographic variation in age-adjusted cancer mortality rates. Anticancer Res. 2006;26:2687–2699
  8. Hollis BW. Vitamin D requirement during pregnancy and lactation. J Bone Miner Res. 2007;22(Suppl 2):V39–V44
  9. Heaney RP. Vitamin D in health and disease. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2008;3:1535–1541

PII: S0002-8703(09)00961-2

doi:10.1016/j.ahj.2009.12.007

Refers to article:

  • Cardiovascular sequelae of preeclampsia/eclampsia: A systematic review and meta-analyses , 03 October 2008

    Sarah D. McDonald, Ann Malinowski, Qi Zhou, Salim Yusuf, Philip J. Devereaux
    American Heart Journal November 2008 (Vol. 156, Issue 5, Pages 918-930)

American Heart Journal
Volume 159, Issue 3 , Page e19, March 2010

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