a case-control study of urinary tract infection, 25‑hydroxyvitamin d status and associated inflammatory and regulatory responses

Background: vitamin d plays a key role in the modulation of numerous immune functions against infectious agents. we aimed to explore the association between serum 25‑hydroxyvitamin d (25[oh] d) levels and cytokine responses, along with hematological changes, in patients with urinary tract infection (uti). materials and methods: vitamin d level, cytokines (interferon [ifn]−γ, interleukin [il]−4, il−6, il–10, il−17a, tumor necrosis factor [tnf]−α, and transforming growth factor [tgf]−β), hematological indices (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio [nlr], monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio [mlr], neutrophil-to-monocyte ratio [nmr], platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio [plr], and mean platelet volume [mpv]), c-reactive protein (crp), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (esr) were evaluated in a case-control human study included 65 patients and 45 controls. results: among the enhanced cytokine levels in patients, the cytokines ifn-γ, il-17a, and il-10 had a significant association with 25(oh)d, but not il-6, tnf-α, and tgf-β. the il-4 levels remained unchanged. by comparing hematological indices, we found the association of increased nlr and mlr with 25(oh)d and the cytokines ifn-γ and il-17a, along with a decrease in the plr without showing such an association. the nmr did not show any significant difference. the platelet count showed an association with il-6, il-17a, and tgf-β, but the association of mpv with 25(oh)d was significant. the esr results exhibited statistically non-significant differences. crp elevation was directly associated with il-6 and il-17a, but not with 25(oh)d. conclusion: 25(oh)d-mediated inflammatory cytokine milieu might alter the proportion and function of peripheral blood cells in a regulated manner to support bacterial clearance which needs further studies to be validated.