Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Recent clinical trials suggest that Vitamin D can metabolite support innate responses to MTB. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of Vitamin D in preventing tuberculosis infection and disease.
This is a randomized, controlled trial conducted on a total of 8,851 children who tested negative for tuberculosis infection. They were divided into two groups and randomly assigned either 14,000 IU of Vitamin D-3 or placebo for 3 years. The primary outcome of the study was the QFT result at the 3-year follow up, and the secondary outcome was the incidence of tuberculosis disease or any other respiratory infection.
At the end of the trial, 3.6% of children who received Vitamin D had a positive QFT result, compared to 3.3% of those who received a placebo. 21 children in the Vitamin D group and 25 children in the placebo group were diagnosed with tuberculosis. A total of 29 children of the Vitamin D group and 34 children of the placebo group were hospitalized. There was no significant difference in adverse events between the two groups.
The research concluded that Vitamin D supplementation was not associated with a lower risk of tuberculosis infection, tuberculosis disease, respiratory infection, or other adverse events than placebo.
REf: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1915176
