Effect of vitamin D sub(3) on antimicrobial peptide gene expression in the neutrophils of pulmonary tuberculosis patients

• Published in: Current science (Bangalore) Vol. 107; no. 2; pp. 259 - 262
• Main Authors: Afsal, K, Banurekha, V V, Meenakshi, N, Harishankar, M, Selvaraj, P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 25-07-2014
• Subjects: Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• ISSN: 0011-3891

We studied the effect of 1 alpha 25 dihydroxy vitamin D sub(3) (1 alpha ,25(OH) sub(2)D sub(3)), the active form of vitamin D sub(3), on the expression of cathelicidin (CAMP), defensin- alpha 3 (DEF- alpha 3) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) genes in neutrophils cultured with or without Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) from pulmonary tuberculosis patients and healthy controls. Vitamin D sub(3) significantly enhanced the CAMP, DEF- alpha 3 and VDR mRNA expression in the neutrophils of both the study groups (P < 0.05). Moreover, significantly upregulated CAMP expression was observed in vitamin D sub(3)-treated neutrophils infected with Mtb (P < 0.05) in both the study groups. These findings suggest that vitamin D sub(3) enhances innate immunity by increasing the expression of the CAMP gene, which might inhibit the growth of Mtb at the site of infection.