Serum level of cathelicidin LL-37 in patients with active tuberculosis and other infectious diseases

What Was Tested

Researchers studied LL-37 (cathelicidin) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine LL-37 serum levels in adult patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB).

Why It Was Studied

A growing body of evidence indicates the role of cathelicidin LL-37, a member of the antimicrobial peptide family, in host innate defense mechanisms.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 37 patients were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

For comparison, circulating LL-37 levels in patients with pneumonia induced by Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria species and in healthy subjects were evaluated.

Fifty patients with pulmonary TB, 31 patients with pneumonia caused by gram-positive bacteria, 68 individuals with pneumonia caused by Gram-negative bacteria, and 61 randomly selected healthy subjects were enrolled in the study.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized study.

Because people in this LL-37 (cathelicidin) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides, C-Reactive Protein, Cathelicidins, Pneumonia, Bacterial and Tuberculosis, Pulmonary.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of LL-37 (cathelicidin) in 37 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2017 (Journal of biological regulators and homeostatic agents), a journal based in Singapore.

More context: the LL-37 (cathelicidin) compound page, all human trials.