ArticleThorax2007
Reactivation of tuberculosis and vitamin D deficiency: the contribution of diet and exposure to sunlight.
Article in Thorax, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 136 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of variant vitamin statuses and tuberculosis development: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Vitamin D deficiency and the risk of tuberculosis: a meta-analysis.Drug design, development and therapy · 2017Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- Vitamin D induces interleukin-1β expression: paracrine macrophage epithelial signaling controls M. tuberculosis infection.PLoS pathogens · 2013Trial
- Vitamin D status and antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin (LL-37) concentrations in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2010Trial
- Chromatin and transcriptional dynamics underlying the immune-modulatory effects of vitamin DScientific reports · 2025Article
- Association of vitamin D receptor mRNA expression, vitamin D deficiency and genetic variant in patients with multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- EarlyFrontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Response to treatment and low serum vitamin D levels in North Indian patients with treatment-naive category I and multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis.Annals of medicine · 2024Article
- Protective Role of Vitamin D Against Development of Active Tuberculosis in Close Household Contacts of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study.Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB · 2024Article
- Spinal tuberculosis in Afghanistan: A 2019-2020 study of patients in Kabul hospitals.Public health challenges · 2023Article
- Low serum vitamin D in North Indian multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis patients: the role of diet and sunlight.Annals of medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- A comparison of vitamin D and cathelicidin (LL-37) levels between patients with active TB and their healthy contacts in a high HIV prevalence setting: a prospective descriptive study.Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · 2022Article
- Time-Resolved Gene Expression Analysis Monitors the Regulation of Inflammatory Mediators and Attenuation of Adaptive Immune Response by Vitamin D.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Vitamin D and Pigmented Skin.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Short-term effects of ambient air pollution and meteorological factors on tuberculosis in semi-arid area, northwest China: a case study in Lanzhou.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAs well as its role in the regulation of calcium metabolism, vitamin D is an immunoregulatory hormone. Epidemiological evidence also suggests a link between vitamin D deficiency and tuberculosis (TB). A study was undertaken to examine serum vitamin D concentrations before treatment in patients with active TB and their contacts from the same ethnic and social background and to investigate the relative contributions of diet and sunlight exposure.
methodsSerum vitamin D concentrations were measured before treatment in 178 patients with active TB and 130 healthy contacts. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its relation to skin colour, month of estimation and TB diagnosis were determined. 35 patients and 35 frequency-matched contacts completed dietary and sun exposure questionnaires to determine the relative contribution of these to serum vitamin D concentrations.
resultsThere was a statistically significant difference in serum vitamin D concentrations between patients and contacts (20.1 vs 30.8 nmol/l, 95% CI 7.1 to 14.3; p<0.001) and significantly more patients had severely deficient concentrations (<21 nmol/l) than controls (114/178 (64%) vs 40/130 (31%), p<0.001). There was no association between serum concentrations of vitamin D and skin pigmentation. The healthy contacts showed a predictable seasonal pattern, rising to peak concentrations in the summer months, but this response was absent in patients with TB. Dietary intake was the same in both patients with TB and contacts matched for age, sex and skin colour, but patients with TB displayed a stronger correlation between serum vitamin D concentrations and dietary intake (r = 0.42, p = 0.016) than controls (r = 0.13, p>0.1). There was no difference in sunlight exposure between the groups.
conclusionsPatients with active TB have lower serum vitamin D concentrations than contacts from similar ethnic and social backgrounds and with comparable dietary intake and sun exposure, and do not show the expected seasonal variation. These observations indicate that other factors are contributing to vitamin D deficiency in patients with TB and suggest abnormal handling of this vitamin.
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