Association among vitamin D,Oral Candidiasis,and calprotectinemia in HIV

Vitamin d deficiency is associated with negative health outcomes,including infections. vitamin d modulates inflammation and down-regulates the expression of calprotectin,a molecule which influences neutrophil functions and which has been linked to oral candidiasis (oc),the most prevalent oral lesion in human immunodeficiency virus (hiv). we hypothesized a positive association between vitamin d deficiency and oc,and that this effect was partially modulated by calprotectinemia. plasma calprotectin and serum 25 (oh) vitamin d levels were measured in stored samples from 84 hiv-seropositive chicago women enrolled in the oral substudy of the women's interagency hiv study (wihs). oc and vitamin d deficiency were diagnosed in,respectively,14 (16.7%) and 46 (54.8%) of those studied. vitamin d deficiency was positively associated with oc (p = 0.011) and with higher calprotectinemia (p = 0.019) in univariate analysis. after adjustment for cd4,hiv viral load,hiv treatment,and tobacco and heroin/methadone use,vitamin d deficiency remained a significant predictor of oc (or 5.66; 95% confidence interval 1.01-31.71). this association weakened after adjustment for calprotectinemia,supporting a role for calprotectinemia as a moderator of this effect. these findings support studies to examine the effect of vitamin d status on calprotectinemia,neutrophil functions,and opportunistic mucosal infections in hiv. © 2012 international & american associations for dental research.