Supplementation of high doses of vitamin D during the gestational period do not cause reproductive, teratogenic and genotoxic damage in mice

Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy may have adverse effects on embryo-fetal and postnatal development. Indeed, vitamin D supplementation has been indicated for pregnant women. However, there are no studies that indicate the safe dose of this supplementation during the gestational period. Therefore, the present study assessed the effects of high doses of vitamin D and vitamin D combined with calcium on reproductive performance, embryo-fetal development, and DNA integrity in Swiss mice. A total of 140 pregnant female mice treated with vitamin D and vitamin D combined with calcium were analyzed in two experiments. In one experiment, mice received intramuscular supplementation at doses of 600,000, 6,000,000, or 60,000,000 IU of vitamin D. These same doses were also associated with the dose of 8.56 mg/kg of calcium. In the other experiment, mice received a single oral dose of 6,000, 60,000, or 600,000 IU of vitamin D. These same doses were also associated with the dose of 8.56 mg/kg of calcium. The treatments were always carried out in the 10th gestational day. The results show that neither intramuscularly nor orally administered vitamin D and vitamin D combined with calcium affected reproductive performance, embryo-fetal development, or DNA integrity at the different doses tested. These pioneering results confirm the safety of using this type of high doses of supplementation, including during pregnancy.