Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2018, 8, 198-229 http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojog ISSN Online: 2160-8806 ISSN Print: 2160-8792 DOI: 10.4236/ojog.2018.83023 Mar. 15, 2018 198 Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology A Review: Molecular Concepts and Common Pathways Involving Vitamin D in the Pathophysiology of Preeclampsia Kareem Washington 1,2 , Somiranjan Ghosh 3 , Inez V. Reeves 2* 1 Department of Genetics and Human Genetics, Graduate School, Howard University, Washington DC, USA 2 Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington DC, USA 3 Department of Biology, Graduate School, Howard University, Washington DC, USA Abstract Preeclampsia is one of the most serious conditions at the end of pregnancy, causing increased perinatal morbidity and mortality to the pregnant mother and her product of conception. It remains a high-risk disease in ethnic minor- ities worldwide. Conception involves fetal invasion and implantation, fol- lowed by an actively forming and shedding decidua, an important uterine ac- tivity facilitating placental development. Dysregulation in conception me- diates functional changes that induce onset of preeclampsia. The pathophysi- ology of preeclampsia primarily results from impaired trophoblastic invasion and implantation with subsequent vasculopathy. These events trigger exagge- rated ischemic, inflammatory and immunologic events in the placenta bed that disrupt implantation. As the underlying mechanism(s) of preeclampsia remain obscure, there is increasing evidence that Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy potentiates hypertensive states that could lead to the development of preeclampsia. As a prohormone, Vitamin D regulates molecular events within central pathophysiological pathways of implantation and vascular de- velopment. We review shared pathways involving Vitamin D modulation of pathologic events in implantation associated with preeclampsia. Understand- ing the causal mechanisms between Vitamin D and preeclampsia during early stages of conception could allude to development of candidate markers for treatment or screening, and decipher “hot spots” for research and interven- tion of, at-risk pregnant mothers. Keywords Vitamin D Deficiency, Preeclampsia, Gestational Hypertension, Placentation How to cite this paper: Washington, K., Ghosh, S. and Reeves, I.V. (2018) A Re- view: Molecular Concepts and Common Pathways Involving Vitamin D in the Pa- thophysiology of Preeclampsia. Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 8, 198-229. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojog.2018.83023 Received: January 11, 2018 Accepted: March 12, 2018 Published: March 15, 2018 Copyright © 2018 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access