Vitamin D Linked to Support Tuberculosis Treatment in Patients by Amy Wermuth

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Vitamin D Linked to being Helpful With Tuberculosis Treatment

Those in need of Tuberculosis treatment will find this especially interesting.

According to a new vitamin study, another positive attribute for taking Vitamin D has come to light. As with most any vitamin on the market these days, vitamin D is not just needed for one specific service to bettering your health. Long associated with fostering strong, healthy bones, this particular vitamin also plays a fundamental part in the fight against infections like tuberculosis. This study was conducted by an international research team through a UCLA affiliation.

The horrible lung disease tuberculosis is responsible for approximately 1.8 million deaths each and every year. It especially preys upon people that have diminished immunity.

Interestingly enough, people with darker skin (such as in Africa where tuberculosis is rampant) have had a higher susceptibility to tuberculosis historically speaking. Researchers attribute this fact in part due to the skin pigment melanin. Melanin is more plentiful in darker skin, which helps with sun exposure issues, but depletes vitamin D production.

Vitamin D, commonly known as natural hormone, rather than a vitamin holds a chief role in bone health. Now, a study shows that it is also useful when combating certain cancer variations, autoimmune diseases and infection fighting.

The journal, Science Translation Medicine, published the results 3 weeks ago. According to the publication researchers studied the mechanisms that oversee the immune system's capability to kill or eradicate the boost of pathogens such as Myobacterium tuberculosis, which is the culprit that causes tuberculosis.

The researchers determined that T cells (white cells in blood that is helpful for strong immunity) release a protein called interferon-g that triggers contact between cells and directs infected immune cells to basically go to war with the tuberculosis bacteria that is invading. In order to be successful in this war sufficient levels of vitamin D must be in place.

Next, scientists tested serum sampled from blood taken from healthy humans (with and without adequate levels of vitamin D). They found that the immune response was not set-off in the serum containing lower vitamin D levels (found in many African Americans). However, when enough vitamin D was added to the deficient serum, the immune response was successful.

These researchers established that there was an impressive 85% reduction of organized formation of tuberculosis bacteria in human macrophage cells that were successfully treated with interferon-g with sufficient vitamin D.

Yes, vitamin D does have a long history within the treatment of tuberculosis. Historically speaking, tuberculosis treatment, patients were given the natural hormone and sent to sunny locations, but that many years ago, and until now, we really didn’t know why it worked.

Notes from this study indicate that the research team believes vitamin D could help both natural and adaptive immunity, two systems that work hand-in-hand to battle infections.

Preceding work on this issue conducted by these same scientists found that vitamin D played a fundamental part in the making of a molecule called cathelicidin. This molecule assists in the eradication of tuberculosis bacteria by the natural immune system. We are born with natural immunity, which is the preprogrammed part of our immune system.

Existing research demonstrates that vitamin D is also vital for the work T cells do (important in adaptive immunity)a highly dedicated system that humans obtain over time as they come across diverse pathogens.

The preceding work which led to this new study has given the research tem the ability and understanding needed take a look at the effects and role of vitamin D with acquired immunity.

Interestingly enough, scientists learned that even though both the natural and acquired immune systems start by using differing receptors to trigger a intricate chain-like reaction in infected cells to destroy the tuberculosis bacteria, both join early in the process however and mimic the same path that uses vitamin D.

In particular, the current study, showed that T cells released interferon-g, which not only put the infected cells in motion (called macrophages) to generate cathelicidin and other proteins to kill tuberculosis but also made sure that these proteins were delivered to the bacteria infected part of the cell. The cells then easily consumed that part. This provides plausible mechanistic clarification at to exactly how vitamin D contributes to acquired T cell immunity on a critical basis that protects people from infections –in particular tuberculosis – for the first time. This is the first study to reveal that interferon-g commands cells to destroy the tuberculosis bacteria.

Because the majority people with tuberculosis are asymptomatic, probably due to the fact that effective immunological control and sufficient vitamin D which prevents the infection from developing into active tuberculosis.

Next up, researchers want to start clinical trials that will shed light on whether taking vitamin D can improve tuberculosis treatment and body's battle with tuberculosis and other such infections. As you would imagine, taking vitamins is not the worst thing you can do. Again, so many nay-sayers are so against taking vitamins. If you take a natural multi vitamin, or simply take high quality vitamins, we still think you cannot go wrong.

Note: The US National Institutes of Health, Basic Science Research Program, National Research Foundation of Korea, as well as the affiliation with UCLA funded this study. That is definitely an international study.