Document Type

Article

Department

Paediatrics and Child Health; Biological and Biomedical Sciences; Pathology and Microbiology; Medicine

Abstract

Aim: Both Cathelicidin and Chemerin are chemoattractant proteins and possess antimicrobial activity.Sufficient level of Vitamin D is important for optimum response of Cathelicidin for its antimycobacterial activity. Studies on the role of these antimicrobial peptides and their relationship withVitamin D level are limited in tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to investigate an associationof Vitamin D with antimicrobial peptide (Cathelicidin) and an adipokine (Chemerin) in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Methods: In a case control study we estimated level of Vitamin D, Chemerin, Cathelicidin and TNFα in pulmonary TB patients (n=22) and healthy endemic controls (n=17) using sandwich ELISA methodology. The study was conducted at Aga Khan University Karachi during 2011. Results: TB group had higher proportion of subjects above median level of Cathelicidin (median test; p=0.034) and fewer number of subjects with Chemerin (median test; p=0.001).Pairwise comparison also showed significant differences between average ranks of Vitamin D vs.Cathelicidin (p<0.0001), Chemerin vs. Cathelicidin (p=0.04) and Vitamin D vs.TNFα(p<0.0001). Cathelicidin was identified as most discriminatory marker between TB disease and healthy group(ROC,AUC 0.780; p=0.007). Conclusion: Our results highlight the role of Cathelicidin as a potential biomarker of active TB disease. The role of Cathelicidin and Chemerin as plausible biomarkers requires further studies in both inflammatory and non inflammatory conditions

Publication (Name of Journal)

British Journal of Medicine & Medical Research

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