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Association between vitamin D and endometriosis: a systematic review

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Abstract

Background

Endometriosis is one of the most common gynecological diseases of reproductive age, with a prevalence of 5–10% and grave consequences for quality of life and fertility. Vitamin D (vit D), a classic regulator of plasma calcium concentration and skeleton mineralization, is also an effective modulator of the immune system. Several studies suggest that immunologic properties attributed to vit D along with vit D receptor (VDR) expression in reproductive tissues may be involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

Objective

To systematically review the literature for the association between components of vit D metabolism and endometriosis.

Materials and methods

A systematic review of the literature published in the Medline and Cochrane Central databases was conducted for original research articles on humans, published in any language.

Results

Twenty-one studies were included in the systematic review. Among them, 12 examined the relationship of endometriosis with vit D metabolites, eight with vit D–binding protein (VDBP), three with VDR polymorphisms, and two with vit D regulatory enzymes. There are discrepancies between the outcomes of the available literature publications.

Conclusions

This is a systematic attempt to collect, evaluate, and present the known data on the association between vit D and endometriosis. Given the heterogeneity and the diversity of the present studies, more research is required to elucidate the association between vit D and endometriosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Cantonal Hospital Schaffhausen, Geissbergstrasse 81, 8208, Schaffhausen, Switzerland

    Dimitrios Rafail Kalaitzopoulos

  2. Society of Junior Doctors, Athens, Greece

    Dimitrios Rafail Kalaitzopoulos, Ioannis G. Lempesis & Florentia Athanasaki

  3. Section of Investigative Medicine, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Ioannis G. Lempesis

  4. First Department of Surgery, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Laikon General Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Dimitrios Schizas

  5. Department of Gynecology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Eleftherios Pierre Samartzis

  6. Unit for Human Reproduction, 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Efstratios M. Kolibianakis

  7. Unit of Reproductive Endocrinology, 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Dimitrios G. Goulis

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  1. Dimitrios Rafail Kalaitzopoulos
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  2. Ioannis G. Lempesis
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Correspondence to Dimitrios Rafail Kalaitzopoulos.

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Kalaitzopoulos, D.R., Lempesis, I., Athanasaki, F. et al. Association between vitamin D and endometriosis: a systematic review. Hormones 19, 109–121 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42000-019-00166-w

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