Vitamin C Supplementation in Relation to Subfertility and Ovarian Function

Gh. Aboud, Wasan

	Vitamin C Supplementation in Relation to Subfertility and Ovarian Function
Kerbala Journal of Medicine
Article 1, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 1786-1792 PDF (0 K)
Author
Wasan Gh. Aboud
Abstract
background: subfertility is a common medical problem affecting about 15-20 % of women consulting the gynecological outpatients in the whole world. Vitamin C is an important substance that plays different roles in the body and part of this action is in relation to subfertility. Objective: to evaluate the effect of vitamin C supplementation on the ovarian hormones estrogen and progesterone in subfertile women. Methods: This prospective study was carried out on thirty women attending private gynecological clinics, twenty of them were infertile and the other ten were normal fertile women as control group. They were subjected for the measurement of serum concentrations of both estrogen and progesterone. At the start, The investigations began at the 23rd day of a regular menstrual cycle(B), 5 ml of blood was taken for the measurement of the serum concentrations of both ovarian hormones. Each woman then took vitamin C tab. 1.5 gm (orally) daily and continued for the next 23rd day (AI), At the same day serum E & P was repeated and the vitamin C supplementation continues to the next 23rd dayof second period, a total period of 58±2 days (AII). So at this day hormonal assessment was repeated and vit C supplementation was stopped. Results and Discussion: The results showed that vitamin C supplementation causes an increased serum progesterone concentration significantly(p<0.05)after two months supplementation of oral vit C, as compared with the baseline serum level in both fertile and infertile women, while the effect of vitamin C supplementation on serum estrogen is increased significantly after the second months of the vitamin supplementation as compared with the baseline level in fertile women only. In this study, we found a role of vitamin C supplementation to affect the subfertility through increasing the endometrial thickness either directly by its antioxidant effect on endometrial cell or through increasing the level of progesterone. Conclusion: our study shows an effect of vitamin C on the progesterone level and hence this may play a role in infertility treatment as it will increase the receptivity and preparation of the endometrium to the fertilized ovum.
Keywords
vitamin C; ovarian hormones; subfertility

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