Effect of vitamin D combined with anti-tuberculosis drugs on serum IL-1β, IFN-γ and Th17 cell-associated cytokines for the management of spinal tuberculosis

Purpose: To investigate the effect of combination of vitamin D and anti-tuberculosis drugs on serum interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and helper T 17 (Th17) cell-associated cytokine levels for the treatment of spinal tuberculosis (TB).
 Methods: Ninety-two spinal TB patients were assigned without bias to two groups (46/group): study group (vitamin D combined with anti-TB drug group) and control group (anti-TB drug group). After treatment for 8 weeks, clinical effectiveness, adverse reactions, visual analog scale (VAS) score, spinal cord injury grade, and serum levels of IL-1β, IFN-γ, Th17, IL-10, TGF-β1, IL-17 and IL-23 were assayed with ELISA, and compared between groups.
 Results: Study group total effectiveness was significantly higher than that in the control group (95.65 % vs 80.43 %, p < 0.05). Before drug administration, VAS score, degree of spinal cord injury and serum levels of IL-1β, IFN-γ, IL-10, TGF-β1, IL-17 and IL-23 were comparable in the study and control patients (p > 0.05). However, post-treatment, these parameters significantly decreased in both groups (p < 0.05), but were markedly lower in study group patients, relative to controls (p < 0.05).
 Conclusion: The use of combined treatment of vitamin D and anti-TB drugs is an effective and safe way to alleviate inflammatory response and improve the immunity of spinal TB patients via the regulation of the levels of Th17 cell-related factors.