Role of Vitamin D Level in Tuberculosis Radiology and Laboratory Findings

BACKGROUND: Despite advances in treatment, tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant public health issue. Vitamin D is crucial for the host's immune response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. AIM: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between vitamin D levels and factors determining TB clinical course. METHODS: We examined 91 patients with TB admitted to Yedikule Chest Diseases Hospital from 2021 to 2022. We investigated the association between vitamin D levels and the prevalence of radiological lesions, duration to sputum and culture conversion, resistance to isoniazid and rifampicin, and patients' age. RESULTS: Results showed that 84.60% had low vitamin D levels (<20 ng/mL), particularly in those with radiologically progressive pulmonary TB (P = 0.002). As the age increased, vitamin D levels were observed to be lower (P = 0.002). However, no significant associations were found between vitamin D levels and resistance to isoniazid and rifampicin (P = 0.327 and Pp = 0.150, respectively), or between pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB (P = 0.607). No significant relationship was found between sputum and culture conversion time and vitamin D levels (P = 0.509 and P = 0.671, respectively). We identified no critical correlation between the duration of sputum and culture conversion and vitamin D levels (P = 0.509 and P = 0.671, respectively). CONCLUSION: In the study, vitamin D levels were consistently low among our patients with TB, and this was particularly associated with widespread radiological lesions. Our study is a real-world investigation highlighting the vitamin D deficiency in TB and underscores the significance of vitamin D in treatment outcomes.