Reduction of respiratory infections in asthma patients supplemented with vitamin D is related to increased serum IL-10 and IFNγ levels and cathelicidin expression

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at LL-37 (cathelicidin).

The trial aim was to explore the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the colonization of pathogenic bacteria in the upper respiratory tract of allergic asthmatic patients.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 86 patients were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

This study was conducted in 86 patients between 18 and 50 years of age who were randomly divided into two groups.

Both groups received the treatment recommended by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA).

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized and placebo-controlled.

The patients were allocated by chance, so the LL-37 (cathelicidin) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with LL-37 (cathelicidin) could be set against what happens without it.

One group also received calcitriol (1,25-(OH)2D3), and the other group received a placebo.

At baseline and 6 months, skin prick tests were conducted, pharyngeal bacterial cultures were performed, and cathelicidin LL-37 was measured in sputum.

Serum levels of IgE, eosinophils, IL-5, IL-9, IL-10, IL-13, and IFNγ were quantified at the beginning and the end of the study.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides, Asthma, Bacterial Infections, Calcitriol, Dietary Supplements, Immunoglobulin E and Interferon-gamma.

Author keywords: Allergy, Cathelicidin and Vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and placebo-controlled study of LL-37 (cathelicidin) in 86 patients.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 4 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2018 (Cytokine), a journal based in England.

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