From: Respirology Vol. 6, Issue 4, pages 611-616, May 2011
Vitamin D, innate immunity, and outcomes in community acquired pneumonia
Leong Leow, Talia Simpson, Ray Cursons, Noel Karulus, Rorbert J. Hancox
The authors state the background for their study “Vitamin D regulates the production of the antimicrobial peptides cathelicidin and beta-defensin-2, which play an important role in the innate immune response to infection. We hypothesized that vitamin D deficiency would be associated with lower levels of these peptides and worse outcomes in patients admitted to hospital with community acquired pneumonia.”
The authors found that “Severe 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency (<30 nmol/L) was common in this population (15%) and was associated with a higher 30-day mortality compared with patients with sufficient 25-hydroxyvitamin D (>50 nmol/L) (odds ratio 12.7, 95% confidence interval: 2.2–73.3, P = 0.004). These associations were not explained by differences in age, comorbidities, or the severity of the acute illness.”
The authors found that vitamin D deficiency was associated with greater mortality in patients admitted to the hospital with community acquired pneumonia but that vitamin D deficiency was not associated with lower levels of cathelicidin or beta-defensin-2: “25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency is associated with increased mortality in patients admitted to hospital with community acquired pneumonia during winter. Contrary to our hypothesis, 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were not associated with levels of cathelicidin or beta-defensin-2.”
See also related article in the May 10, 2011 issue of ScienceDaily,
“Vitamin D Deficiency in Pneumonia Patients Associated With Increased Mortality”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110510101623.htm
and
“Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Risk of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Older Adults”, B. Neupane et. al, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Vol 181. pp. 47-53, (2010)
http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/short/181/1/47
and related ScienceDaily article “Air Pollution Linked to Hospitalizations for Pneumonia in Seniors”, December 23, 2009, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091223074703.htm
northpolecleanair 