Vitamin D insufficiency is common in Ugandan children and is associated with severe malaria.
Vitamin D plays an increasingly recognized role in the innate and adaptive immune response to infection. Based on demonstrated roles in up-regulating innate immunity, decreasing inflammation, and reducing the severity of disease in illnesses such as tuberculosis and influenza, we hypothesized that p...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2014-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113185 |
| _version_ | 1819035260145369088 |
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| author | Sarah E Cusick Robert O Opoka Troy C Lund Chandy C John Lynda E Polgreen |
| author_facet | Sarah E Cusick Robert O Opoka Troy C Lund Chandy C John Lynda E Polgreen |
| author_sort | Sarah E Cusick |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Vitamin D plays an increasingly recognized role in the innate and adaptive immune response to infection. Based on demonstrated roles in up-regulating innate immunity, decreasing inflammation, and reducing the severity of disease in illnesses such as tuberculosis and influenza, we hypothesized that poor vitamin D status would be associated with severe malaria. We measured 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] by immunoassay in a sample of Ugandan children aged 18 months-12 years with severe malaria (cerebral malaria or severe malarial anemia, n = 40) and in healthy community children (n = 20). Ninety-five percent of children with severe malaria (n = 38) and 80% of control children (n = 16) were vitamin D-insufficient [plasma 25(OH)D <30 ng/mL]. Mean plasma 25(OH)D levels were significantly lower in children with severe malaria than in community children (21.2 vs. 25.3 ng/mL, p = 0.03). Logistic regression revealed that for every 1 ng/mL increase in plasma 25(OH)D, the odds of having severe malaria declined by 9% [OR = 0.91 (95% CI: 0.84, 1.0)]. These preliminary results suggest that vitamin D insufficiency may play a role in the development of severe malaria. Further prospective studies in larger cohorts are indicated to confirm the relationship of vitamin D levels to severity of malaria infection and to investigate causality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T07:46:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-afcedd87125640f3b8f71f244d903cd9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T07:46:48Z |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-afcedd87125640f3b8f71f244d903cd92022-12-21T19:11:11ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-01912e11318510.1371/journal.pone.0113185Vitamin D insufficiency is common in Ugandan children and is associated with severe malaria.Sarah E CusickRobert O OpokaTroy C LundChandy C JohnLynda E PolgreenVitamin D plays an increasingly recognized role in the innate and adaptive immune response to infection. Based on demonstrated roles in up-regulating innate immunity, decreasing inflammation, and reducing the severity of disease in illnesses such as tuberculosis and influenza, we hypothesized that poor vitamin D status would be associated with severe malaria. We measured 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] by immunoassay in a sample of Ugandan children aged 18 months-12 years with severe malaria (cerebral malaria or severe malarial anemia, n = 40) and in healthy community children (n = 20). Ninety-five percent of children with severe malaria (n = 38) and 80% of control children (n = 16) were vitamin D-insufficient [plasma 25(OH)D <30 ng/mL]. Mean plasma 25(OH)D levels were significantly lower in children with severe malaria than in community children (21.2 vs. 25.3 ng/mL, p = 0.03). Logistic regression revealed that for every 1 ng/mL increase in plasma 25(OH)D, the odds of having severe malaria declined by 9% [OR = 0.91 (95% CI: 0.84, 1.0)]. These preliminary results suggest that vitamin D insufficiency may play a role in the development of severe malaria. Further prospective studies in larger cohorts are indicated to confirm the relationship of vitamin D levels to severity of malaria infection and to investigate causality.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113185 |
| spellingShingle | Sarah E Cusick Robert O Opoka Troy C Lund Chandy C John Lynda E Polgreen Vitamin D insufficiency is common in Ugandan children and is associated with severe malaria. PLoS ONE |
| title | Vitamin D insufficiency is common in Ugandan children and is associated with severe malaria. |
| title_full | Vitamin D insufficiency is common in Ugandan children and is associated with severe malaria. |
| title_fullStr | Vitamin D insufficiency is common in Ugandan children and is associated with severe malaria. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vitamin D insufficiency is common in Ugandan children and is associated with severe malaria. |
| title_short | Vitamin D insufficiency is common in Ugandan children and is associated with severe malaria. |
| title_sort | vitamin d insufficiency is common in ugandan children and is associated with severe malaria |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113185 |
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