title: Is vitamin D deficiency associated with development of Acinetobacter baumannii infections in critically ill patients?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A growing number of evidence demonstrates deficiency of vitamin D in critically ill patients. We aimed to evaluate the vitamin D status of our critically ill patients and its relevance to infections in these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a prospective observational study in 201 critically ill patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit of Gazi University Hospital between October 2009 through March 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-nine percent of the patients were found to be vitamin D deficient. Infection rate was higher in the deficient group, though without statistical significance (P=.117). Infections with Acinetobacter baumannii was significantly more frequent in patients with Vitamin D deficiency (25% vs 10%, P=.012). The median level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels was 11.8 [6.3-17.2] ng/mL and 15.7 [8.1-28.9] ng/mL in patients with and without A baumannii infections respectively (P=.024). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency (P=.042) and invasive mechanical ventilation (P=.001) were the 2 independent risk factors in the development of A baumannii infections, in addition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vitamin D deficiency is common in critically ill patients. Even though there was no statistical difference between vitamin D deficient and sufficient patients regarding development of infections in general, A baumannii infections were significantly more frequent in the deficient group. Vitamin D deficiency was found as one of the independent risk factors for A baumannii infections. Further multicenter studies with a larger sample size are required to validate our data.
authors.affiliation: Medical Intensive Care Unit, Gazi University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: meldaturkoglu@yahoo.com.tr.
authors.forename: Melda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Türkoğlu
authors.forename: Gülbin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aygencel
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dizbay
authors.forename: Ayşe Fitnat
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Tuncel
authors.forename: Burcu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arslan Candır
authors.forename: Yelda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deligöz Bildacı
authors.forename: Hatice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Paşaoğlu
mesh_terms: D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000368:Aged; D016638:Critical Illness; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; Critically ill; Infection; Nutrition; Vitamin D deficiency