Vitamin D Can Inhibit Tuberculosis

The international research team including scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found vitamin D can help in addition to bone formation, also can form immune to fight infection, like tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a lung disease that can be potentially fatal. This disease has caused the deaths by the number of estimated annually by 1.8 million people.

World Health Organization (WHO) declared the world's leading cause of death, due to their reduced immunity, such as people infected with HIV. In an interesting conclusion, it turns out people who have darker skin higher risk of Tuberculosis in the African region is still dominated the world's highest infection rates. The scientists believe is caused by skin pigment or melanin is higher. Although abundant levels of melanin in darker skin to protect the body from ultraviolet light, but it can reduce the production of vitamin D in the body.

In nature, vitamin D is known to play a role in the formation and strengthening of bones, but these vitamins can also protect the body from cancer and fight infection.Researchers examined the mechanisms that regulate the immune system's ability to kill or inhibit the growth of pathogens such as tuberculosis or bacterial Myobacterium that causes tuberculosis.

"White blood cells played a central role in the immune process and release a protein called interferon-g that trigger and direct relationship between cell-infected immune cells to attack tuberculosis bacteria. But these activities require adequate levels of vitamin D to be more effective," said the the researcher.

Researchers then tested the serum samples taken from healthy human blood, either with or without sufficient levels of vitamin D. They found that does not trigger an immune response in serum with low levels of vitamin D, as found on Americans who come from Africa. But, when vitamin D is added to the serum with a low level, the immune response can be effectively reactivated.