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

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study aims at investigating the effect of vitamin D (VD) replacement therapy on serum nuclear factor-kappa ? (NF-k?) levels in both lean and obese women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 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-k?, VD, demographic and hormonal values of the patients were recorded before and after VD replacement therapy. RESULTS: 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-k? 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-k? 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. CONCLUSIONS: VD replacement therapy contributes to the improvement of subfertility and metabolic imbalance by reducing serum NFk? levels in both lean and obese women with PCOS. © 2022 Verduci Editore s.r.l. All rights reserved.