Association between serum vitamin D level and tuberculosis in children

Background A possible association between vitamin D and tuberculosis has been described. In adult, vitamin D is considered to have a role in protecting tuberculosis. On the other hand, tuberculosis infection can decrease serum vitamin D level. Objective To find out the difference between serum vitamin D level in children with and without tuberculosis, and to find the association of serum vitamin ID level with tuberculosis. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted in Cibabat Hospital, Bandung from July to October 2007. We selected children 14 years, diagnosed as tuberculosis, and had positive response after two month treatment; for control we selected randomly siblings or neighbors who didn't have tuberculosis. We excluded children with liver abnormalities and immunocompromized children. Mann-Whitney test and OR method with 95% confidence interval was used to analyze the data. Results Thirty-nine children with tuberculosis (21 boys, 18 girls) and 39 children without tuberculosis (19 boys, 20 girls) as were enrolled. Mean serum vitamin D level of children with and without TB were 47 (SD 25) pmol L and 125 (SD 37) pmol L, respectively (P-0.001). All children without tuberculosis had normal vitamin D level while of those with tuberculosis, 14 children had normal level and 25 children were deficient (corrected OR: 139, 95 CI 8 to 238). Conclusion Serum vitamin D level is low in children with tuberculosis.