Low plasma vitamin A concentration is associated with tuberculosis in Moroccan population: a preliminary case control study

BACKGROUND: Vitamin A plays numerous roles in immune system. Its deficiency alters both the innate and adaptive immunity. Previous results reported that the micronutrients deficiency, particularly vitamin A, is observed in patients with tuberculosis. Thus, we aimed in this study to assess vitamin A concentrations in Moroccan patients with tuberculosis to set up a large efficacy study of vitamin A supplementation for TB infected patients. Plasma retinol concentration was measured by HPLC in 44 recently diagnosed TB patients and 40 healthy controls. RESULTS: We showed that plasma vitamin A is significantly lower in tuberculosis patients as compared to healthy controls (p < 0.0001). Moreover, no significant association was found between vitamin A deficiency and, TB severity and patients' ages. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the association between low vitamin A levels and tuberculosis disease.