BACKGROUND: Pneumonia, a common childhood infection in Nigerian children with a number of debilitating complications such as empyema thoracis, has been linked to vitamin D deficiency due to its ability to modulate the T lymphocyte of the immune system . OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between vitamin D and outcome of pneumonia in children. METHODS: This was a case-control study involving 24 children, admitted for pneumonia as subjects and 10 children without pneumonia as controls. Pre-formatted questionnaire was utilized to obtain background information, anthropometric measurements were made to determine nutritional status and estimation of 25- hydroxy cholecalciferol (25OHD) done for all those studied. RESULTS: The mean (SD) serum 25OHD concentration was 104 (59) nmol/L and 130 (107) nmol/L for subjects and controls respectively. Amongst the subjects 15 (54%) had serum 25OHD less than 70 nmol/L and 11 (46%) serum 25OHD greater than 70 nmol/L. Hypocalcaemia was present in 15 (54%) of the subjects. Further analysis of hypocalcaemia with regards to the concentration of serum 25OHD showed that 2 (13%) had levels below 40 nmol/L, 10 (67%) had levels below 70 nmol/L and 3 (20%) above 70 nmol/L. Hypocalcaemia was more frequent among subjects with 25OHD below 70nmol/L compared with those above 70nmol/L, (p =0.01). Empyema thoracis and death occurred amongst the two subjects with 25OHD between 27.5 and 40 nmol/L. Anaemia was more frequent among subjects with 25OHD below 70 nmol/L compared with those above 70 nmol/L (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The study showed that Vitamin D insufficiency, and not solely its deficiency, may have an important role to play in the immune and haemopoetic system. It may therefore affect the response of a child to infections especially pneumonia.
BACKGROUND:Pneumonia, a common childhood infection in Nigerian children with a number of debilitating complications such as empyema thoracis, has been linked to vitamin D deficiency due to its ability to modulate the T lymphocyte of the immune system . OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between vitamin D and outcome of pneumonia in children. METHODS: This was a case-control study involving 24 children, admitted for pneumonia as subjects and 10 children without pneumonia as controls. Pre-formatted questionnaire was utilized to obtain background information, anthropometric measurements were made to determine nutritional status and estimation of 25- hydroxy cholecalciferol (25OHD) done for all those studied. RESULTS: The mean (SD) serum 25OHD concentration was 104 (59) nmol/L and 130 (107) nmol/L for subjects and controls respectively. Amongst the subjects 15 (54%) had serum 25OHD less than 70 nmol/L and 11 (46%) serum 25OHD greater than 70 nmol/L. Hypocalcaemia was present in 15 (54%) of the subjects. Further analysis of hypocalcaemia with regards to the concentration of serum 25OHD showed that 2 (13%) had levels below 40 nmol/L, 10 (67%) had levels below 70 nmol/L and 3 (20%) above 70 nmol/L. Hypocalcaemia was more frequent among subjects with 25OHD below 70nmol/L compared with those above 70nmol/L, (p =0.01). Empyema thoracis and death occurred amongst the two subjects with 25OHD between 27.5 and 40 nmol/L. Anaemia was more frequent among subjects with 25OHD below 70 nmol/L compared with those above 70 nmol/L (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The study showed that Vitamin Dinsufficiency, and not solely its deficiency, may have an important role to play in the immune and haemopoetic system. It may therefore affect the response of a child to infections especially pneumonia.
Authors: Julia L Hurwitz; Bart G Jones; Rhiannon R Penkert; Shane Gansebom; Yilun Sun; Li Tang; Anna M Bramley; Seema Jain; Jonathan A McCullers; Sandra R Arnold Journal: J Pediatr Date: 2017-05-31 Impact factor: 4.406
Authors: Jonatan J Carvajal; Andrea M Avellaneda; Camila Salazar-Ardiles; Jorge E Maya; Alexis M Kalergis; Margarita K Lay Journal: Front Immunol Date: 2019-09-12 Impact factor: 7.561