Status of vitamin D and the associated host factors in pulmonary tuberculosis patients and their household contacts: A cross sectional study

• Published in: The Journal of steroid biochemistry and molecular biology 2019-10, Vol.193, p.105419-105419, Article 105419
• Main Authors: Panda, Sudhasini, Tiwari, Ambrish, Luthra, Kalpana, Sharma, S.K., Singh, Archana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides - blood; Cathelicidin; Chemiluminescence; Colorimetry; Cross-Sectional Studies; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Family Characteristics; Female; Gene expression; Households; Humans; Innate immunity; iNOS; Male; Middle Aged; Nitric oxide; Nitric Oxide - blood; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II - blood; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II - genetics; Nitric-oxide synthase; Receptors, Calcitriol - blood; Receptors, Calcitriol - genetics; Serum levels; Supplements; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - blood; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - genetics; VDR; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin D receptors; Vitamin D-Binding Protein - genetics; Vitamins - blood; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0960-0760; 1879-1220
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2019.105419

•Decreased serum vitamin D levels could be implicated in TB susceptibility.•Levels of vitamin D and VDR were significantly lower in TB patients compared to healthy controls.•Significantly higher levels of cathelicidin and NO were observed in TB patients as compared to household contacts and healthy controls.•Significantly higher levels of VDR and iNOS expression in household contacts compared to TB patients suggest plausible protective role of vitamin D. Innate immunity plays an important role in pathophysiology of tuberculosis which is influenced by various host factors. One such factor is vitamin D which, along with its associated molecule, can alter the host defense against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (M.Tb.) via altered production of cathelicidin and nitric oxide, both having bactericidal effect. Therefore, assessment of vitamin D and its associated molecules in tuberculosis patients and household contacts as compared to healthy controls were done and the implication of these findings in susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) was studied. 80 active TB patients, 75 household contacts and 70 healthy controls were included. Vitamin D receptor (VDR), vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA levels were studied using quantitative PCR. Serum VDR, cathelicidin, and iNOS levels were measured using ELISA. Vitamin D and NO levels were measured in serum using chemiluminescence based immunoassay and greiss reaction based colorimetry kit respectively. Decreased serum levels of vitamin D were observed in active TB patients as compared to healthy controls (p