* Tuberculosis killed 1.4 million people in 2010
* Research finds high-dose vitamin D speeds recovery
* Also explains why old-style treatment was of use
By Kate Kelland
LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Scientists have shown how and why
the “sunshine” vitamin D can speed recovery in tuberculosis (TB)
patients, helping explain why the so-called heliotherapy of a
bygone, pre-antibiotic era may have done some good.
From the late 1800s – well before the development of
antibiotics in 1930s – TB patients were often sent to retreats
where they were encouraged to soak up the sun’s rays in what was
known as heliotherapy or phototherapy.
A study led by British researchers has found that high doses
of vitamin D – which is made in the body when exposed to
sunlight – given alongside antibiotic treatment, appears to help
patients recover more quickly from the infectious lung disease.
The findings suggest high doses of the vitamin dampen down
the body’s inflammatory response to infection, reducing damage
to the lungs, said Adrian Martineau, a senior lecturer in
respiratory infection and immunity at Queen Mary University of
London, who led the study.
“Sometimes these inflammatory responses can cause tissue
damage leading to … cavities in the lung,” he said.
“If we can help these cavities to heal more quickly, then
patients should be infectious for a shorter period of time, and
they may also suffer less lung damage.”
The researchers also said they think vitamin D’s ability to
dampen inflammatory responses without interfering with the
action of antibiotics suggests supplements might be useful for
patients taking antibiotics for diseases like pneumonia, sepsis
and other lung infections.
TB, which people in wealthier parts of the world often
mistakenly believe to be a thing of the past, is proving a tough
disease to beat. In 2010, it infected 8.8 million people
worldwide and killed 1.4 million.
DRUG-RESISTANT
The infection destroys lung tissue, causing patients to
cough up the bacteria which then spreads through the air and can
be inhaled by others.
In recent years, rates of drug-resistant TB have been
spreading fast across the world, causing alarm among public
health officials and prompting calls for more research into new
and more effective treatments.
The researchers, whose study was published by the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, split
95 TB patients who were on standard antibiotic treatment into
two groups. For the first eight weeks of their treatment, 44 of
them were also given high dose vitamin D, while the remaining 51
got placebos.
Anna Coussens from Britain’s National Institute for Medical
Research measured signs of inflammation in blood samples to see
what effect the vitamin D had on immune responses.
“We found that a large number of these inflammatory markers
fell further and faster in patients receiving vitamin D,” she
said.
The researchers also found that Mycobacterium tuberculosis,
the bacteria that cause TB, cleared from the phlegm coughed up
from deep in the lungs faster in patients on vitamin D, taking
an average of 23 days to become undetectable under the
microscope compared to 36 days in those on placebo.
Martineau said it was too early to recommend all TB patients
take high-dose vitamin D alongside antibiotics, as more research
with a larger group of patients was needed first.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
