Vitamin A levels in sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients in comparison with household contacts and healthy ‘normals'.

Ramachandran, G.; Santha, T.; Garg, R.; Baskaran, D.; Iliayas, S.A.; Venkatesan, P.; Fathima, R.; Narayanan, P.R.

International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease; 2004; 8; 1130-1133.

Objective: To estimate serum vitamin A in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients at the start and end of anti-tuberculosis treatment.

Design: Serum vitamin A was estimated in 47 PTB patients (pre and post treatment), 46 healthy household contacts and 30 healthy ‘normals'.

Results: Mean serum vitamin A in patients at the start of treatment was 21.2 m g/dl, which was significantly lower than in household contacts (42.2 m g/dl) and healthy ‘normals' (48.1 m g/dl­). The vitamin A levels in patients increased following treatment.

Conclusion : The low vitamin A levels observed in patients returned to normal at the end of anti-tuberculosis treatment without vitamin A supplementation.

Keywords: Vitamin A deficiency; tuberculosis; anti-tuberculosis treatment

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