Environmental influences on fertility and reproductive health

National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences

Investigators

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Abstract

Vitamin D is known for its role in calcium absorption and bone health, but interest in its role in reproduction has been growing. Vitamin D is synthesized in the skin in response to ultraviolet radiation. It can also be obtained from foods or nutritional supplements. Vitamin D is metabolized to 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) in the liver and this is the clinical biomarker of vitamin D status. Animal models of vitamin D deficiency show disrupted ovulation and subfertility. In human, community-based samples, we previously published three studies that have reported associations between low 25(OH)D and long or irregular menstrual cycles, delayed ovulation, and lower probability of conception. We previously reported that chronic inflammation did not underlie our observed association of vitamin D with conception. We did find that systemic inflammation was associated with menstrual cycle length and phase length (PMID: 36244407). We also investigated early pregnancy Our research group also examined urinary phenol concentrations and fecundability and early pregnancy loss but did not find any associations (PMID: 36346334). Finally, we have published several studies of fertility or menstrual cycle health using data collected through menstrual cycle tracking apps. We first described the population we recruited for preconception fecundability research using a menstrual cycle tracking app (PMID: 36303662). We also reported a small, but temporary, change in menstrual cycle length with COVID-19 vaccination in the Apple Womens Health Study (PMID: 36323769) and in the same study we examined abnormal uterine bleeding (PMID: 36414993) and demographics associated with menstrual cycle length (PMID: 37248288).