TITLE:
Evaluation of BCG Vaccine Immunogenicity in Relation to Vitamin D Status in a Group of Egyptian Children
AUTHORS:
Azza Abdelrahman Abdelgawad, Houda Abd El Azim Saoud, Amal Gaber Mohamed, Manal Ahmed Fathi, Entesar Raafat Mokhtar
KEYWORDS:
Vit D, BCG, Normal Weight, Underweight
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.10 No.2,
June
19,
2020
ABSTRACT: Background: Vitamin D has an immuomodulatory role in vaccine response and this may
be mediated via its action on antigen presenting cells with the most potent
effects on dendritic cells. Aim of work: was to determine if there is an
association between circulating 25(OH)D concentrations and BCG vaccine cytokine
response (interferon gamma) level. Methods: A cross sectional study
included 80 infants aged 4 - 9 months from the pediatric outpatient clinic of
Al-Zahraa university hospital (40 with normal weight and 40 with underweight). Participants were subjected to
history taking, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations,
particularly 25 hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] and BCG vaccine-induced
interferon gamma (IFN-γ). Results:
The study showed that the underweight group had a lower socioeconomic level and
higher percentage of breastfeeding compared with the normal weight group. Most
infants in our study received vitamin D supplementation (80% and 62.5% in
normal and underweight groups, respectively). The average serum level of
25(OH)D was relatively high (>100 ng/ml) in both normal and underweight groups. The mean levels of IFN-γ in response to BCG vaccine were not significantly different
between the normal and underweight groups of infants in our study. Also, there
was a statistically-significant moderate correlation between serum levels of
25(OH)D and BCG vaccine-induced IFN-γ in both normal (r = 0.58) and underweight (r = 0.64) groups. Conclusion:
A good vitamin D status was observed in all studied infants irrespective of
their nutritional status and significant correlation with BCG vaccine induced
IFN-γ.