THE ROLE OF VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTATION TO FIRST-LINE ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS TREATMENT IN TREATMENT COURSE OF PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS

Objectives: The objective of the study was to study the role of Vitamin D supplementation to first-line anti-tuberculosis treatment (ATT) in the treatment course of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Methods: This study was conducted on sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB) positive outpatient department and inpatient department patients who had presented to Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre, New Delhi. We had included 66 patients who were newly diagnosed sputum smear AFB positive. The patients were divided into two groups. Each subject signed a special consent form that was written in simple phrase. The procedure and the aim of the work were explained to all the subjects in simple language and due consent was taken. Results: Majority of the patients in Group 1 (cases) were in age group of 51–60 years (30%) and in Group 2 (controls) were in age group of < 30 years (27%). Mean age was found to be comparable in both groups, which was 46.3±17.91 years in Group 1 (cases) and 47.46±17.27 years in Group 2 (cases). Gender ratio was also comparable in both groups with 60.61% males and 39.9% females in Group 1 (cases), and 72.73% males and 27.7 % females in Group 2 (controls). In Group 1 (cases) mean TB score was 5.82±1.01 and in Group 2 (controls) mean TB score was 5.94±1.09 (p=0.683). After 2 months mean TB score in Group 1 was 1.7±1.38 and in Group 2 was 2.94±1.82. There was a statistically significant difference in TB score between the two groups (p=0.0002). Conclusion: In the present study, we found that the majority of the patients enrolled were males, this could have been due to less accessibility of females to medical healthcare facility due to social factors. Patients who received Vitamin D along with first-line ATT had early sputum smear conversion as compared to those who were on ATT only. Furthermore, patients who received Vitamin D with ATT had better TB score after 2 months of therapy as compared to patients on first-line ATT only. Thus, Vitamin D supplementation to first-line ATT can reduce time to sputum conversion and accelerate clinical improvement.