Vitamin D deficiency and Tuberculosis in Basrah: The Effect of Anti-tuberculosis Drugs

Abstract

Background Low vitamin D levels had been reported to be associated with a wide range of health problems, one of them is tuberculosis. the aim is to estimate vitamin D serum concentration among patients with tuberculosis at baseline, 2 and 5 months after starting anti-tuberculosis treatment. Methods The study was carried out at the TB Center and College of Medicine in Basrah (Iraq), during the period from September 2018 to June 2019. Participants were newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients, and their matched apparently healthy controls. Total 25-hydroxy vitamin D in serum was estimated using chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, parathyroid hormone, and others, were also measured. Results There were no statistically significant difference in the mean levels of vitamin D between tuberculosis patients at baseline (n=56) and control subjects (n=57). The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was high in patients and their controls at baseline where more than 80% of them had a vitamin D level below 20 ng/ml. When patients were followed two months after starting anti-tuberculosis treatment, the mean serum vitamin D level was significantly lower than that at baseline. Despite the wide spread vitamin D deficiency among TB patients, all smear-positive pulmonary TB patients, except 3, had sputum conversion after 2 months of treatment. Conclusions The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is high with no significant difference between tuberculosis patients at baseline and their matched normal controls. Vitamin D deficiency did not seem to affect the response of patients to anti-TB treatment.