Abstract

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency has been proposed to confer susceptibility to acquiring tuberculosis infection by impairing the innate immune response. Methods: In an exploratory study, we examined whether the levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) in serum, and cathelicidin – an antimicrobial peptide-induced under calcitriol – in the nasal fluid, would associate with the risk of acquiring tuberculosis infection. Results: Within a prospective cohort of 231 tuberculosis household contacts tested with repeated interferon-gamma release assays, we serially analyzed all the uninfected contacts acquiring tuberculosis infection at follow-up (“converters”, n = 18), and an age and sex-matched control group of contacts not acquiring tuberculosis infection (“non-converters”, n = 36). The median levels of serum 25(OH)D3 did not differ between convertors and non-converters at baseline (14.9 vs. 13.2 ng/ml, p = 0.41), nor at follow-up (19.0 vs 18.6 ng/ml, p = 0.83). Similarly, cathelicidin levels did not differ between both groups. Conclusion: These data argue against a major role for hypovitaminosis D in tuberculosis infection susceptibility. © 2022 Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica