The association of HIV status with bacterial vaginosis and vitamin D in the United States

Audrey L. French, Oluwatoyin M. Adeyemi, Denis M. Agniel, Charlesnika T. Evans, Michael T. Yin, Kathryn Anastos, Mardge H. Cohen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the association between vitamin D deficiency and bacterial vaginosis (BV) among nonpregnant HIV-infected and uninfected women. Methods: In a substudy of the Women's Interagency HIV Study, including women from Chicago and New York, the association between BV and vitamin D deficiency, demographics, and disease characteristics was tested using generalized estimating equations. Deficiency was defined as <20ng/mL 25 (OH) vitamin D and insufficiency as >20 and ≤30ng/mL. BV was defined by the Amsel criteria. Results: Among 602 observations of nonpregnant women (480 HIV infected and 122 uninfected), BV was found in 19%. Vitamin D deficiency was found in 59.4%, and insufficiency was found in 24.4%. In multivariable analysis, black race was the most significant predictor of BV (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 5.90, (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.52-13.8). Vitamin D deficiency was independently associated with BV among HIV-infected women (AOR 3.12, 95% CI 1.16-8.38) but not among HIV-uninfected women. There was a negative linear correlation between vitamin D concentration and prevalence of BV in HIV-infected women (r=-0.15, p=0.001). Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency was very common in this cohort and significantly associated with BV among HIV-infected women. These preliminary findings suggest that further epidemiologic and mechanistic exploration of the relationship between vitamin D and BV in HIV-infected women is warranted.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1497-1503
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Women's Health
Volume20
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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