The effect of ultraviolet B-induced vitamin D levels on host resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a pilot study in immigrant Asian adults living in the United Kingdom.
Asian immigrants to the United Kingdom demonstrate much higher tuberculosis rates than the indigenous population. This is postulated to be because of their low vitamin D levels, consequent upon a combination of diet and their reduced ultraviolet (UV) exposure in the United Kingdom, because vitamin D enhances antimycobacterial activity in in vitro systems. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between UVB exposure, vitamin D levels and tuberculo-immunity in Asian immigrants in the United Kingdom. Suberythemal UVB treatments were given to eight subjects on 3 consecutive days, using broadband UVB fluorescent lamps. Blood was sampled for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH D) and whole blood functional assays were performed for antimycobacterial immunity. The mean 25-OH D level increased from a baseline of 11.23 ng/ml (95% CI 6.7-20.39) to 20.39 ng/ml (95% CI 16.6-20) following UVB treatment, P<0.01. However, no significant change in antimycobacterial immunity occurred following UVB exposure. This pilot study in Asian subjects with good baseline tuberculo-immunity has not supported a role for UVB-induced 25-OH D in the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Yesudian
Paul Devakar
PD
Department of Dermatology, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, UK. paul.yesudian@coch.nhs.uk
Berry
Jacqueline Lesley
JL
Wiles
Siouxsie
S
Hoyle
Stefan
S
Young
Douglas Brownlie
DB
Haylett
Ann Katarina
AK
Rhodes
Lesley Elizabeth
LE
Davies
Peter
P
D000328:Adult; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D006113:United Kingdom; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D014807:Vitamin D