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Vitamin D was not associated with survival or cerebrospinal fluid cathelicidin levels in children with bacterial meningitis
Author(s) -
Savonius Okko,
Pelkonen Tuula,
Roine Irmeli,
Viljakainen Heli,
Andersson Sture,
Fernandez Josefina,
Peltola Heikki,
Helve Otto
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.14393
Subject(s) - medicine , cathelicidin , vitamin d and neurology , cerebrospinal fluid , meningitis , vitamin d deficiency , bacterial meningitis , gastroenterology , viral meningitis , immunology , pediatrics , receptor , innate immune system
Aim Vitamin D deficiency impairs the immunological system and has been associated with worse outcomes of infectious diseases, but its role in bacterial meningitis remains unknown. We investigated whether serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D concentrations related to disease outcomes and to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cathelicidin concentrations in childhood bacterial meningitis. Methods All consecutively enrolled patients in a clinical trial on childhood bacterial meningitis in Latin America in 1996–2003 were considered, and 142 children, with a median age of seven months who had a confirmed bacterial aetiology and frozen serum available for further analyses, were included in this study. Serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were determined with a chemiluminescence immunoassay analyser, while CSF cathelicidin was measured by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Results The median serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D concentration was 96 (range 19–251) nmol/L. No relationship was found with patient survival, but children with any neurological sequelae had lower serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D levels than children without sequelae. Serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D was unrelated to cathelicidin concentrations in CSF. Conclusion Although serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D in children with bacterial meningitis was not associated with survival or CSF cathelicidin concentrations, its relationship with more detailed disease outcomes warrants further study.