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. 2016 Jul;79(3):153-7.
doi: 10.4046/trd.2016.79.3.153. Epub 2016 Jul 1.

Association of Serum Vitamin D Levels with Bacterial Load in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients

B Yuvaraj  1 , M G Sridhar  1 , S Vinod Kumar  2 , T Kadhiravan  3
Affiliations

Association of Serum Vitamin D Levels with Bacterial Load in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients

B Yuvaraj et al. Tuberc Respir Dis (Seoul). 2016 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Vitamin D is known to have diverse effects on various systems in the body. There is evidence to suggest that a link exists between the serum vitamin D status and tuberculosis. The present study was designed to assess the alterations in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in newly diagnosed sputum acid fast bacilli (AFB) positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients and to study the association, if any, between serum vitamin D levels and different levels of sputum smear positivity.

Methods: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were estimated in 65 sputum AFB positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients and 65 age and gender-matched healthy controls.

Results: The levels of serum 25 hydroxy-vitamin D in tuberculosis patients were not statistically different from the levels of serum 25 hydroxy-vitamin D in healthy controls. However, among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, there was a significant negative correlation between the levels of serum 25 hydroxy-vitamin D and levels of sputum positivity.

Conclusion: Serum vitamin D levels negatively correlates with bacterial load in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis.

Keywords: Tuberculosis, Pulmonary; Vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Correlation of serum vitamin D levels with sputum acid fast bacilli (AFB) positivity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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