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. 2021 Nov 4;13(11):2223.
doi: 10.3390/v13112223.

Hypovitaminosis D Is Associated with Higher Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines and with HAM/TSP in HTLV-Infected Patients

Elaine Coutinho Netto  1 , Alfredo Carlos Silva  1 , Célia Pedroso  2 , Carlos Brites  2
Affiliations

Hypovitaminosis D Is Associated with Higher Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines and with HAM/TSP in HTLV-Infected Patients

Elaine Coutinho Netto et al. Viruses. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Recent studies have shown the effects of vitamin D on host response to infectious diseases. Some studies detected a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in HIV-infected patients, but scarce information exists for HTLV-1 infection. We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate the frequency of hypovitaminosis D in HTLV-1 patients and its relationship with their immune response in HTLV-infected patients and in age- and gender-matched controls at a Brazilian rehabilitation hospital. We compared vitamin D, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumoral necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels across groups. Logistic regression was utilized to assess the association between hypovitaminosis D and cytokine levels. We enrolled 161 HTLV-infected subjects (129 HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) patients, 32 asymptomatic HTLV carriers) and equal number of HTLV-negative controls. We observed a significantly higher prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in patients with HAM/TSP than in HTLV asymptomatic carriers (p < 0.001), or controls (p < 0.001). HAM/TSP patients also had higher levels of IL-6 and IFN-γ than asymptomatic carriers. Patients with HAM/TSP and hypovitaminosis D had higher levels of TNF-α than asymptomatic HTLV carriers. These findings suggest hypovitaminosis D plays a role in HAM/TSP pathogenesis, and it needs to be evaluated in further studies.

Keywords: 25(OH)D; Calcitriol; HAM/TSP; HTLV; vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proportion (%) of subjects with normal/abnormal vitamin D levels according to HTLV status and ambulation capacity.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between serum levels of vitamin D and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α and IFN-γ) in HAM/TSP patients.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlation between serum levels of vitamin D and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α and IFN-γ) in HTLV-asymptomatic carriers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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