Some tuberculosis patients may benefit from high doses of vitamin D – alongside antibiotics, British researchers say today.
A trial in London involving some 146 patients has shown that adding vitamin D cut treatment time for TB from six weeks to five weeks.
Researchers say they have evidence that those who benefit can be identified genetically – as they have a particular type of vitamin D receptor.
The findings are published today in The Lancet.
Most of the patients in the study started off with low levels of vitamin D, a common problem in the disease.
Researcher Dr Adrian Martineau, of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, said: "High dose vitamin D was used to treat TB in the days before antibiotics were available, but clinical trials have not previously been performed to find out how TB patients’ genetic make-up can affect their response to vitamin D supplementation.
"The finding that patients who have a particular type of vitamin D receptor are very responsive to vitamin D is new and gives us insights into how vitamin D can affect the immune."
Ian Jarrold, of the British Lung Foundation, which funded the research, said: "The findings of this study show great promise in speeding up the antibiotic treatment of TB for those patients which are receptive to vitamin D.
"The treatment process is currently very long and can be costly so any headway made in the medical research field for this disease is welcome to improve outcomes for patients."
Writing in the journal, Dr Reinhold Vieth, of the University of Toronto, Canada, says the findings indicate that vitamin D should also be explored as a way of preventing TB.
High-dose vitamin D3 during intensive treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis: a double-blind randomised control trial. The Lancet 6 January 2011.
Leave a Reply