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VITAMIN D AN ANTIMICROBIAL WEAPON AGAINST ACUTE RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW (2006-MARCH 2011)

RUXANDRA MOROTI^1,2*, ROXANA PETRE¹, IULIA NICULESCU¹, IRINA PIGULEA¹, VIOLETA MOLAGIC¹, ADRIANA HRISTEA^1,2, ALINA POROJNICU³

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Vitamin D (vitD) acts like a hormone, by binding a nuclear receptor, vitamin D receptor (VDR), stimulating the release of cathelicidin, an endogenous antibiotic and an immune-modulator. The presence of VDR in monocytic-macrophagic system and in the respiratory epithelium suggests that vitD can play a role in defending against respiratory infections. A lot of studies were published in the last years for finding the correct link between vitD and respiratory infections, in order to use it for prophylaxis and treatment. We searched on PubMed publications for piecing together the last 5 years researches on this field. Ten out of 90 articles proved to be proper for further analysis, being clinical trials regarding acute respiratory infections (including flu). We have found high variations in serum vitD levels in different races and geographic areas; we observed that despite these variations, a serum level with at least 10 nmol/L higher than the mean basic serum level concentration appears to be protective. For enhancing the serum level, the studied trials used either daily doses (800-2.000 IU), or singular higher doses (100.000 IU) eventually repeated. The conclusion from almost all trials is that roughly vitamin D may be an effective adjuvant in the anti-infective therapy.