Maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D level and postpartum depression: a systematic review

To evaluate systematically the role of maternal vitamin D levels in postpartum depression (PPD) PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched using the search words [vitamin D, cholecalciferol, calcitriol, 1,25 (OH)D] in combination with [postpartum depression, PPD, postnatal depression, PND] in the title, abstract, and keywords. The search was limited to publications in English. Criteria for inclusion in this systematic review were data on maternal 25(OH) D and PPD. We identified 147 publications at first, from which five observational studies were selected for inclusion in the final review.in one study 25(OH) D was associated with PPD. In another one was found an association but in category with vitamin D lower than 47 nMol/L was significant in p It seems that vitamin D plays a role along with other factors that might cause postpartum depression, in a specific but unknown cut off. Further studies are necessary to identify the exact role of vitamin D on PPD.