Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We prospectively investigated serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D concentrations in children suffering from osteoarticular tuberculosis. The age or sex correlation to vitamin D levels in affected subjects was also calculated. METHODS: Twenty five untreated children with osteoarticular tuberculosis were taken as cases along with equal number of age and sex matched 'healthy' controls. The following laboratory references for defining the vitamin D status were used (<30 nmol/L = deficiency; 30-75 nmol/L = insufficiency; > 75 nmol/L = sufficiency). The cases were further grouped based on gender differences and age (<5 or >5 years). RESULTS: Out of 25 cases, there were 14 (56%) with deficiency of vitamin D. In 'apparently' healthy subjects, all 25 controls (100%) had hypovitaminosis D. The osteoarticular tuberculosis patients had significant lower levels of vitamin D when compared with their healthy peers irrespective of gender or age differences. CONCLUSIONS: The osteoarticular tuberculosis cases had low serum vitamin D levels compared to healthy controls. The low vitamin D levels were persistent irrespective of gender and age in osteoarticular tuberculosis children. There was widespread vitamin D insufficiency in apparently healthy controls.