Evaluation of the effect of Category I anti tuberculous therapy on the vitamin D status of pulmonary tuberculosis patients

<b>Introduction:</b> Tuberculosis is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Vitamin D deficiency has been implicated to cause PTB, on the contrary anti tuberculosis drugs like Rifampicin and Isoniazid have been insinuated to cause vitamin D deficiency. <b>Aims and Objectives:</b> The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare serum Vitamin D status in PTB patients before and after ATT to substantiate the supplementation of Vitamin D in PTB patients. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> A single centre, prospective, observational study was carried out after institutional ethical community approval and written informed consent from 50 PTB patients on category I, above 18 years of age of both the sexes. Vitamin D samples were collected at baseline, 2 months and at the end of 6 months. Analysis using RIA, was done at the end of the study, to eliminate bias. <b>Results:</b> The mean vitamin D level of the study population aged 46.66 ± 21.21 years, at baseline was 18.14 ± 6.70ng/ml (Normal &gt; 30ng/ml), at 2 months was 17.86 ± 7.10ng/ml, at 6 months was 17.54 ± 7.79ng/ml. The progressive decline in the mean vitamin D levels was statistically significant (p&lt;0.001). The study subjects were further sub divided into A [8(16%)] increased vitamin D levels after ATT and B [42(84%)] decreased vitamin D levels after ATT. A possible role of younger age, socio – economic status and nutrition was attributed to the improved outcome in group A. <b>Conclusion:</b> The authors suggest the implementation of vitamin D supplementation in tuberculosis treatment programs, inculcating the need for further studies to ascertain the exact dose and duration of vitamin D augmentation.