Study: Vitamin D Deficiency Linked To Tuberculosis

Patients with active tuberculosis (TB) are more likely to be vitamin D deficient than the rest of the population. New research shows that the majority of TB patients have low levels of vitamin D, leading to the possibility that vitamin D could reinforce current treatments or be used as a preventative measure against tuberculosis.

Led by Vassiliki Bravis, researchers at London’s Central Middlesex Hospital examined the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in an ethnically diverse population who had active tuberculosis. Out of the 158 patients in the study, only 11 (7 percent) had adequate vitamin D levels. Additionally, patients’ vitamin D levels did not vary seasonally as expected, but remained constant throughout the year.

It is currently unclear whether these findings represent a contributory factor to TB infection—where people with low vitamin D levels are more likely to contract the disease—or whether tuberculosis infection makes the body process vitamin D in an abnormal way, leading to patients becoming deficient. More research is needed to establish whether vitamin D could provide a new line of treatment or preventative medicine against tuberculosis.

Previous work indicates that vitamin D may help prevent tuberculosis based on its ability to mediate a key immune response against the bacterium that causes TB. Tuberculosis is a major global health problem, which causes over 2 million deaths every year.

“Previous research has shown that high levels of vitamin D can help inhibit tuberculosis infection; our work shows that, within a London population, the majority of TB patients we treat are vitamin D deficient,” Bravis says. “Currently, we don’t know whether this deficiency is a contributing factor towards the development of the disease or whether tuberculosis infection causes the body to process vitamin D in an abnormal way and sufferers subsequently become vitamin D deficient. Looking towards the future, we now need to carry out trials to establish whether vitamin D could be used effectively to prevent or help treat tuberculosis infection.”

Source: Innovations Report